Tulsa World: Hearings on separate lawsuits against ORU delayed

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Hearings on separate lawsuits against ORU delayed
Weather keeps at least one lawyer from the courthouse.

By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Published: 1/28/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 1/28/2009 2:20 AM

Icy weather has postponed hearings in two lawsuits against Oral Roberts University.

The Tuesday hearings were to address remaining issues in the case of a former ORU accountant who alleges that he was forced to commit fraud and a former student who claims that he was unable to complete his degree.

Although the Tulsa County Courthouse was open Tuesday, at least one attorney would have had to travel from outside of Tulsa to reach the courthouse. Attorneys and the judge in the case were working out a new schedule Tuesday afternoon.

Ice also disrupted ORU hearings in December 2007, soon after the lawsuits were filed.

The accountant, Trent Huddleston, worked for Oral Roberts Ministries for about 15 months. His lawsuit alleges that former ORU President Richard Roberts and his wife, Lindsay Roberts, funneled as much as $1 billion annually into bank accounts not affiliated with the university and spent the money to create a lavish lifestyle for their family.

Richard Roberts resigned in November 2007 and has denied any wrongdoing.

In November, Tulsa County District Judge Michael Gassett dismissed Huddleston's claim of wrongful termination and moved toward dismissing the other charges. He gave attorneys more time to replead the case, however.

Earlier this month, defense attorney Jo Anne Deaton said she expects that Huddleston's remaining claims will be dismissed.

Deaton said Tuesday that she hopes the hearings will be rescheduled soon so the parties can move

forward.

Also postponed is the hearing for David Brown, a former student who sued after one of his professors was fired. He said he could not complete his specialized degree without that professor.

Another lawsuit against ORU was filed in 2007 by three professors who alleged wrongful termination and other charges. That lawsuit was settled with confidential terms.

On Wednesday, ORU is expected to announce Mark Rutland as its new president. Rutland comes from Southeastern University, a liberal arts college in Florida.

Shannon Muchmore 581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer

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pm, (1/29/2009 4:30:25 AM)

The Roberts have not done anything Criminal wrong, all the documents prove that. Also Mr. Greene even said that there was no funneling of money when he donated the money. I don't remember actually what he said but it was one of his first news conferences at ORU, he said that his family would have never helped ORU if there was funneling of money and he said that his family did a audit and it proved that there was no funneling of money. Also a judge said the same thing that is why he almost threw out the case, also he gave them more time to get there act together because of the weather and because they did not have all of the documents. But if a judge, Mr. Greene, and documents say that there was nothing done criminally wrong just bad management than everyone should stop crying and be thankful that ORU has a new President and they are looking at the future not the Past.

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