Plaintiff files for return of his post
BY APRIL MARCISZEWSKI World Staff Writer
Saturday, November 10, 2007
11/13/07 at 2:08 PM
For more: Read the latest ORU stories, view the lawsuit and other documents and watch slide shows and video.
He wants to be
reinstated as
chairman of the
department with
benefits and back pay.
One of the three professors
suing Oral Roberts University
asked for his job back in court
filings on Friday.
John Swails, one of the
plaintiffs, asked to be reinstated as history, humanities and
government department chairman and tenured history professor, asked that his firing be
removed from his record and
requested back pay, benefits,
eligibility for promotion and
the restoration of the department to its previous state.
Also on Friday, the professors filed an application with
the court to file a fourth version of their lawsuit, which
would add Oral Roberts Ministries and its board and Lindsay
Roberts, ORU President Richard Roberts' wife, as defendants.
The professors now claim
the ministries own ORU, that
the two organizations' finances are mixed together and,
therefore, they are one and
the same. Lindsay Roberts is a
"lifetime spiritual regent" on
the ORU board and is an officer of the ministries.
The professors previously
claimed in their lawsuit that
the ORU board of regents was
negligent in overseeing the
administrators and the university, who also are defendants.
On Friday, the professors
claimed that the Oral Roberts
Ministries board also was negligent.
The professors previously
had cited as an example of alleged negligence that ORU
fired its comptroller and
shredded documents, "constituting spoilation of evidence."
That example was not in the
latest version of the lawsuit.
The professors' attorney,
Gary Richardson, said last
month that the allegation of
shredded documents was
based on an ORU faculty
member observing security
guards in an ORU elevator, accompanying shredded documents from the floor that
housed the comptroller's office.
On Friday, the professors
added a legal claim of fraud,
saying they "were induced to
accept employment and to
continue employment pursuant to false pretenses, misrepresentations and omissions,"
their lawsuit says. They specifically claim that ORU and Vice
Provost Jeff Ogle, two of the
defendants, were false and
misleading in recruiting for
mer professor Paulita Brooker, one of the plaintiffs.
The professors originally
sued because they allege they
were wrongfully fired or
forced to resign.
The professors added a legal claim of "tortious interference with contract," alleging
the defendants interfered with
the professors' "contracts and
business relationships" out of
"a malicious, improper and intentional plan to harm and
damage" the professors. The
professors removed their legal
claim of civil conspiracy by
ORU officials to remove them
from their jobs.
Other assertions
The professors allege in
their court filing that ORU and
Oral Roberts Ministries board
members, because of their
"opulent and extravagant lifestyles," are "doubtless . . . callous to the point of negligence
regarding the excesses of"
Richard and Lindsay Roberts.
A report allegedly written by
Lindsay Roberts' sister, Stephanie Cantees, alleged the
Roberts family used ORU and
ministries money and resources for itself.
The Robertses have denied
the allegations and have said
Cantees' report that Richard
Roberts saw three years ago
consisted of false rumors.
This week, U.S. Sen. Chuck
Grassley, R-Iowa, asked the
leaders of six ministries -- including three ORU regents --
for information about how
their expenses relate to the
tax-exempt purposes of their
organizations, but Grassley
said in a press release, "I don't
want to conclude that there's a
problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more."
The ORU board is investigating the claims of the report
allegedly written by Cantees
and will decide whether Richard Roberts returns from a
leave of absence to the ORU
presidency.
The professors denied the
defendants' claims that the report had been stolen from the
computer of Cantees. The professors said Cantees loaned
her laptop computer, with
passwords, to students to use
on a Tulsa mayoral campaign
last year.
More court filings
Also Friday, a court filing by
the professors said the defen
dants are not allowed to ask
for all parties and attorneys to
stop speaking about the case
outside of court. They also
said the defendants do not
meet the high standard to invoke prior restraint on speech
and publication.
The professors quoted a
1976 court case, Nebraska
Press Association versus Stuart, saying, "Pretrial publicity,
even pervasive, adverse publicity, does not inevitably lead
to an unfair trial." The professors also said publicity has not
been one-sided, as the defendants claim, and they point out
the defendants have given a
number of interviews with media.
Also Friday, the professors
told the court that the third
version of their lawsuit complies with the law and the local
rule and should be answered
by defendants.
April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com
