Suit Alleges “Retaliatory Firing” and “Slander” of Former Executive Secretary for Trustees
On January 9th a suit was filed by Chalmers Eugene Troutman, III of
Greenville in the Court of Common Pleas, Fifth Judicial Circuit in
Richland County, against Clemson University alleging retaliatory firing
and slander.
In a 48 page complaint filed with the court, Troutman, former Executive Secretary of Clemson University’s Board of Trustees alleges that on August 17, 2007, Clemson fired him as retaliation for his exercise of protected speech inside the University during his two-year employment and that Clemson’s public explanation was false and slanderous.
Troutman seeks reinstatement and unquantified damages. He requested a jury trial.
Defendants are the Clemson Board of Trustees, twelve of its thirteen trustees as individuals, and others. Chairman Leon J. Hendrix, Jr., President James F. Barker, and General Counsel Clayton D. Steadman are sued as individuals for punitive damages for slander.
Trustee David H. Wilkins is not named as a Defendant because “he did not become a Trustee until on or about April 1, 2007” and “on information and belief, he did not participate in the acts and omissions alleged.”
In addition to slander, Troutman alleges the Trustees abdicated their duty to govern by allowing their Chairman to function as a virtual dictator, tolerated a lack of basic management control of its internal operations, accumulated unreasonably high $137,000,000 cash while continuing to increase tuition and lobby the General Assembly for increased appropriations, tolerated theft by an athletic coach and others, claimed and accepted insurance benefits for a theft while denying the theft occurred, and violated the law by misclassifying administrators as faculty to increase their compensation.
Documents filed with the court allege that “The Administrative Council, despite being briefed on the climbing balance of Unrestricted Cash and the budgetary surpluses which were being carried over, adopted a deliberate plan to cover up these facts.” It is further alleged that “The decision was made to purposefully avoid telling the General Assembly about these funds.”
The complaint alleges that Chairman Hendrix made statements regarding the termination of Troutman to the Greenville daily newspaper that were “malicious and untrue.”
Troutman is a 1974 graduate of Clemson University, has been employed by Fluor Corporation and related firms for 30 years as an executive, most recently in the Middle East on classified military projects. When he retired, he was employed by his alma mater.
The Defendants are expected to file responses to the complaint by February 9, 2008.
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