The College Faculty

Hi Folks,

The Faculty lawsuit has been moving forward steadily, though quietly. I’ve taken the baton from Peter Townsend in coordinating communication, and thought that we’re way past due in providing an update on the various pieces of the legal puzzle that have been unfolding during the past few months.

a) Some may know that Eric Bates, one of the ACCC negotiators, was deposed June 26th.  Due to the confidentiality agreements between the ACCC and the University in their negotiations, the text of the deposition has not yet been released.  University attorneys are still reviewing the text of the deposition, and it should be released soon.  We’ll post it as soon as it’s made available.

b) The Greene County judge has not yet ruled on the University’s motion to dismiss the Faculty lawsuit.  There is no legal deadline for him to do so, and his ruling could come tomorrow or months from now.

c) We’re moving ahead with depositions, and have scheduled two Trustees to be deposed in early September.  Other Trustees and the Chancellor are in the cue.

d) Faculty counsel sent a request to University counsel for electronic documents on July 11.  Most importantly, the request asked the University to produce all e-mails to and from the Chancellor starting in January of ‘07.  We have received a written response, and should be receiving the documents shortly.  At that point we will have to review what has been released, to examine critical absences, and may have to seek the court’s help in compelling production of relevant electronic documents, including, if necessary, forensic retrieval.

On behalf of the faculty I’d like to thank all of you who have supported us in this legal action.  The process is long and painstaking, and of course very expensive, but I’m convinced that the lawsuit (a) has been a primary force in keeping the Board and University at the negotiating table, and (b) has played a very important role in excavating the Board and University processes that led to the closure of the College.  I hope you will continue to show your generosity in this effort to get at the truth and to bring about an autonomous, viable and thriving Antioch College.  Contributions for the Faculty Legal Fund can be directed to the College Revival Fund folks.

For the Faculty,

Bob Devine

PDF Available

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

PETER TOWNSEND, et al.
Plaintiffs,
v.
ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY,
Defendant.

Case No. 2008 CV 0300
Judge Wolaver

PLAINTIFFS’ MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF’S FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

I. INTRODUCTION
The Court should deny Defendant Antioch University’s Motion to Dismiss because Plaintiffs, the tenured faculty members of Antioch College (the “College Faculty”), are not seeking specific performance of the provisions of a personal services contract and they are not asking the Court to step into Defendant’s shoes and make decisions regarding the operation of the College. Rather, the College Faculty seeks specific performance of Defendant’s contractual obligation to implement less drastic measures than closing the College in order to alleviate the College’s financial problems. Specifically, Section IV A 56 of the College’s Faculty Personnel Policies and Procedures (“the Contract”) permits Defendant to declare financial exigency and close the College only when “an imminent financial crisis exists which threatens the survival of the College and cannot be alleviated by less drastic means.” (emphasis added).
Continue Reading »

Hi Folks,

Perhaps, lest I sound like an apologist for Antioch University, I should remind you that I am the lead plaintiff in the faculty lawsuit. I am an advocate for fighting the University in every legal way in order to preserve Antioch College as we all have known it.

Some of you know how strident I have been in trying to persuade all who would listen that no one should consider keeping even a pencil labeled “Antioch College” or “Antioch anything” if the University prevails and the College closes. Much less steal anything the University genuinely values.

Based on how nicely Toni, Andrzej, Lynda Sirk, and Mary Lou LaPierre have dealt with Antioch College this year, if the University prevails I expect to have a search warrant executed to search my apartment for any college “treasure”. If I were stupid enough to have stolen (kept) College (University) property, I probably deserve the legal consequences I am sure Toni and Andrej would gleefully impose on me. Continue Reading »

Thanks for asking, thanks for caring about Antioch.

In order to follow the faculty lawsuit, you kind of need a blow-by-blow.

When we re-filed the suit, we included a motion for a preliminary injunction which would prevent AU from selling anything while the suit was in process. The suit includes a permanent injunction, to be imposed if we win the suit.

The judge decided to have an evidentiary hearing (on April 1) to help him rule on the preliminary injunction.

On Wednesday, 26 March AU deposed Bob Devine. Bob did a great job! Nothing was brought out that we don’t already know about. Continue Reading »

Here’s the latest update: Court Decision - PDF

DEPOSITION OF PAULA TREICHLER - TXT

DEPOSITION OF PAULA TREICHLER - PDF

Below are the PDF & TXT versions of Robert Devine’s deposition on March 26, 2008.

The text version is an export from the PDF and thus is formatted a little strangely.

DEPOSITION OF ROBERT DEVINE - March 26, 2008 - PDF

DEPOSITION OF ROBERT DEVINE - March 26, 2008 - TXT

Message from Professor Peter Townsend

Hi Folks,

From the lead plaintif in the faculty court case:

As most people know, the faculty have delayed the April 1 (April Fools) court hearing.  We did the delay because the judge allowed ACCC to not be deposed (questioned), and our case was dependant on the ACCC testimony.  However, given the rapid events of this past few days, it is a good thing we are not going to court in the middle of such rapid changes.  It is hard to tell who’s on first, and in a successful court case, our lawyer has to know who’s on first in order to win.  Stay tuned for developments next week.

Peter

Office of the Chancellor
150 E. South College St.
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
TEL: 937-769-1 351
FAX: 937-769-1 35
www.antioch.edu

March 21, 2008

Anita Levy, Ph.D.
Associate Secretary
American Association of University Professors
1012 Fourteenth Street, N.W. - Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-3465

Dear Dr. Levy:

This letter is in response to your March 14,2008, letter to Antioch University. While I appreciate the AAUP’s concern, it’s obvious from the letter that your organization is operating on inaccurate second-hand information without bothering to seek sources that might be better informed, beginning with my office. The sources on which you and your president are relying for information, whom or whatever they may be, are giving you either inaccurate or misleading information, and revealing a very limited knowledge of the University’s financial situation as well as a legal and administrative naivete.

Continue Reading »

By Peter Townsend

First, a disclaimer - I am not an alum and I am not a lawyer. But I am the lead plaintiff in the faculty lawsuit, so I’m going to try to bring you abreast of where we are and how we got here. Please forgive me if my lack of legal expertise causes any mistakes in this communication.

The Antioch College faculty have a clause in our contract requiring that in the event of a financial crisis at the College, the College Faculty must be consulted and Antioch University must work with College Faculty and ADCIL to find the “least drastic solution” to the fiscal crisis. Last summer it struck a few faculty that AU administration and the AU BOT precipitously announcing the college’s closing did not constitute “consultation” with the faculty, and that closing the place perhaps did not represent the “least drastic solution” to the problems at Antioch College.

Consequently the faculty formed a small legal group that selected Evan Price, of Bailey Cavalieri, Columbus, Ohio to represent us. Evan is doing a fantastic job for the faculty and, because our legal case is about keeping the college open, Evan is doing a great job for everyone who wants Antioch College to continue.

The faculty filed for a preliminary injunction to force AU to abide by our contract and work with the faculty and ADCIL to find a “least drastic solution”, and in the meantime to not sell any College assets. To see the actual court filing by the faculty, click: antiochfaculty.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/faculty-lawsuit-edited.pdf

Our case is in the Greene County Ohio Common Pleas Court, which is the lowest level State Court. Elected Judge Stephen Wolaver was assigned the case. Sometimes Magistrate Judges are also assigned to a case. Recently Magistrate Judge George Reynolds was assigned to our case.

On March 18, 2008, Magistrate Judge Reynolds scheduled an Evidentiary Hearing for April 1, 2008, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. at the Greene County Ohio Courthouse.

At the April 1 hearing both sides will call witnesses, and the witnesses will testify in open court. I am predicting the courtroom will be packed with extremely interested folks.

The April 1 hearing was not expected by either side, and it has both sides scrambling. On the county WEB site:http://www.co.greene.oh.us/pa/pa.urd/pamw2000*docket_lst?316215 there a list of people our lawyer was going to depose. That list is for the case going forward, not for the April 1 Evidentiary Hearing before Judge Reynolds.

Last week lawyers for the faculty and Antioch University agreed they would take depositions before the April 1 hearing. Both sides are still scrambling to decide whom they will call for witnesses, and both sides are working frantically to schedule the depositions. The people being deposed are not necessarily the same people we indicated in our filing. This case is now moving forward at warp speed.

On March 17, 2008, the University’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case. Because of court rules on timing of responses to a motion to dismiss, the motion to dismiss cannot be ruled upon by the court until after the April 1 hearing. Which means that, even if the case were to be dismissed, there will already have been testimony in open court, with reporters and witnesses present. Woohoo!

The Antioch College faculty believe that after looking over our lawsuit, you will agree that our suit is not for personal faculty gain, it is about trying to save the college. We are well aware of the efforts of ACCC to save the college. In fact, ACCC represents our “least drastic solution”. The University has sworn ACCC to total secrecy, but we do know that many millions of dollars have been offered by generous alumni to keep Antioch College open and free. It is our contention that this generous outpouring of money represents a “less drastic solution” to shuttering the College, and our suit is urging the AU BOT to strike a deal with ACCC.

Legal stuff is not cheap. So far the Antioch College faculty have raised $60,000 for the case through both personal faculty donations and through generous non-faculty donations. We are a small and poorly paid faculty, in jeopardy for our financial futures, and $60K represents all the $ we can muster. We need help, if we are going to move the case forward. We hope you will donate to our legal fund to help keep Antioch College going. If you wish to donate to help us, please send a check endorsed to the Antioch Faculty Legal Fund to:

YS Federal Credit Union
217 Xenia Avenue
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
Telephone 937-767-7377
www.yscu.org/1.php

The wonderful staff at the Yellow Springs Credit Union will ensure the check gets deposited to the faculty legal fund account, and we thank you so much. This is not tax deductible.

Or you can make donations directly via PayPal on our website:

antiochfaculty.org/

However, Paypal takes a small percentage of all donations made via this method so mailing a check to the above address is better for large donations.

Yours for the future of Antioch College,

Peter Townsend
Professor since ‘71