Jury deliberations will continue next week in the second of two multimillion-dollar lawsuits against Emporia State University.
Testimony was offered Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Kansas City in the case of Melvin Hale vs. Emporia State, according to federal court documents. The jury spent Friday in deliberations with no decision reached. Deliberations will resume on Monday.
Hale says ESU, as well as former president Jackie Vietti, former School of Library and Information Management dean Gwen Alexander, current SLIM professor Mirah Dow, current provost David Cordle, legal counsel Kevin Johnson, Human Resources Director Ray Lauber, Honors College Dean Gary Wyatt and former administrator Judy Anderson retaliated against him for reporting racial discrimination and for protesting racism at ESU. Hale also contends ESU, Alexander, Cordle and Vietti refused to renew his contract and published false and misleading information about him.
The case is related to a separate lawsuit filed against ESU by Hale’s wife, Angelica. A bench trial was held in Angelica Hale’s case in January, and prospective findings of fact have been filed with the court but no decision has been released and there is now no timetable for a decision to be announced.
Both were at one time employed by Emporia State, with Melvin Hale serving as a professor in the SLIM department and Angelica Hale as an assistant to Alexander. The couple says their concerns with the university started when they found a racial epithet on a notebook in April 2014. The university is not commenting until the cases are resolved.
Both Angelica and Melvin Hale are seeking $10 million from the university in their respective cases.
10 am Friday: Melvin Hale v. ESU, et. al moves to jury deliberations
Jury deliberations are underway in the second of two multimillion-dollar lawsuits against Emporia State University.
Testimony was offered Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Kansas City in the case of Melvin Hale vs. Emporia State, according to federal court documents. Hale says ESU, as well as former president Jackie Vietti, former School of Library and Information Management dean Gwen Alexander, current SLIM professor Mirah Dow, current provost David Cordle, legal counsel Kevin Johnson, Human Resources Director Ray Lauber, Honors College Dean Gary Wyatt and former administrator Judy Anderson retaliated against him for reporting racial discrimination and for protesting racism at ESU. Hale also contends ESU, Alexander, Cordle and Vietti refused to renew his contract and published false and misleading information about him.
The case is related to a separate lawsuit filed against ESU by Hale’s wife, Angelica. A bench trial was held in Angelica Hale’s case in January, and prospective findings of fact have been filed with the court but no decision has been released and there is now no timetable for a decision to be announced.
Both were at one time employed by Emporia State, with Melvin Hale serving as a professor in the SLIM department and Angelica Hale as an assistant to Alexander. The couple says their concerns with the university started when they found a racial epithet on a notebook in April 2014. The university is not commenting until the cases are resolved.
Both Angelica and Melvin Hale are seeking $10 million from the university in their respective cases.
