Former University of Louisville President Wants School to Pay His Legal Fees

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Summary: James Ramsey wants his ex-employer to pay his legal fees. 

The University of Louisville and its foundation sued its former president for allegedly misappropriating funds, but this month, James Ramsey is boldly asking the plaintiffs to cover his legal expenses, according to The Courier-Journal. 

  

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The University of Louisville said that Ramsey was supposed to handle millions of dollars in endowment money, but they claim he knowingly caused the foundation to spend exorbitant amounts of money on investments that would likely lose money and then rewarded himself with millions. In 2016, Ramsey resigned from his position, and the school and foundation sued him in Jefferson Circuit Court last month.

The school and foundation are also suing Ramsey’s former chief of staff, Kathleen Smith, and the law firm Stites & Harbison. Stites & Harbison performed work for the foundation while Ramsey was employed. The plaintiffs said that these parties caused the foundation to bleed millions of dollars by issuing risky loans, and they stated they were concerned about the multi-million of dollars that Ramsey and Smith received in deferred compensation.

“Ramsey and Smith’s compensation is particularly egregious given their wrongful conduct, which they suppressed from the Foundation and University board members,” the complaint said. “In other words, Ramsey and Smith were being excessively compensated from the Foundation while they were simultaneously improperly and secretly depleting the Foundation’s assets.”

The plaintiffs said that Stites & Harbison helped hide paper trails for questionable transactions and that the firm cost the school’s endowment to lose almost $55 million. The plaintiffs accused Stites & Harbison of malpractice.

This month, Ramsey filed a motion asking that his legal fees be paid for because the case was due to his work at the foundation.

Ramsey said that state law requires the foundation to indemnify him, and he denies the allegations and said he will “vigorously defend” himself.

The other defendants have not filed motions similar to Ramsey’s, but attorney Ann Oldfather who represents Smith said that her client was also entitled to have her legal fees covered. Through a spokesperson, the university said they disagreed with this statement because of the defendants’ intentional misconduct.

Last months’ lawsuit from the plaintiffs stemmed from a forensic audit conducted last June. The plaintiffs are represented by Andrew Campbell, managing partner of the Birmingham, Alabama, firm Campbell Guin.

Ramsey and the plaintiffs are expected to meet up in court again in July to discuss this matter further.

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What do you think of James Ramsey’s request? Let us know in the comments below.