Said Sewell, Lincoln University's provost and vice president for academic affairs, is one of five defendants in a federal lawsuit filed May 31 in Ohio.
The seven-page lawsuit by Lisa D. Roberto, of Aurora, Ohio, accuses Kent State University and four of its officials of violating federal whistleblower laws by not renewing her employment contract in retaliation "for her role in exposing the submission of false claims for payment by the United States Department of Education."
Sewell was Kent State's dean of Undergraduate Studies and assistant provost before coming to Lincoln two years ago.
Since coming to LU, Sewell has been involved in several controversies, including allegations he removed two deans ahead of a national search for their replacements - without following prescribed protocols - and recommending the decertification of Lincoln's long-time History degree, even though the faculty committees that looked at the program made no such recommendation.
The Board of Curators approved that proposal last month during a quickly scheduled telephone conference call.
In Roberto's Ohio lawsuit, Kent State University, identified as KSU, is being sued "only for declaratory and injunctive relief," while Sewell and the other three defendants are sued in their individual capacities.
Sewell told the News Tribune Friday he "was recently made aware of the lawsuit against Kent State University in which I along with several other administrators were named," and both Ohio's attorney general's office and Kent State's general counsel "have reviewed the suit and believe that there is no merit to it. They have already filed a motion to dismiss it against all named individuals."
Online docket entries for the federal lawsuit show a "motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim" was filed July 29, but no action has been taken since, either on that motion or on Roberto's demand for a jury trial.
Sewell told the News Tribune: "I, along with others named, cannot at this time respond additionally to any matters related to this suit" and said to direct questions to Gary Spring, an Ohio state attorney.
Nancy Grim, the Kent, Ohio, attorney who filed Roberto's lawsuit, also told the News Tribune late Friday she had no comment for this story.
In the lawsuit, Roberto tells the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio she was employed at KSU's Academic Success Center, in the College of Undergraduate Studies from Aug, 17, 2008, until May 31, 2013, "when her contract was non-renewed."
In her final two years at Kent State, Roberto said she worked in a position funded primarily by a U.S. Department of Education TRIO Student Support Services grant and only partly funded by KSU's Undergraduate Studies college.
"During her employment in 2011-13, Roberto observed facts that caused her to believe that KSU was making false claims to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) for payment under the TRIO Student Support Services program," Grim wrote in the lawsuit, "by seeking payment for her time and effort spent on non-grant activities, and possibly other inappropriate activities with respect to the TRIO funding.
"Roberto further believed that KSU, through the individual defendants, intended to continue making such false claims."
In the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years, the lawsuit reported, Roberto periodically was asked by Kent State's Grants Accounting Office to sign a prepared report as part of the TRIO grant funding application, but by "about the spring of 2012, Roberto realized that the prepared reports were inaccurate, because a disproportionate amount of her time was required for non-grant activities."
So, the lawsuit said, Roberto worked to separate her two jobs "so that the hours would be consistent with the funding."
However, she claimed, "At the beginning of fall semester 2012, Dean Sewell told Roberto that the TRIO grant work and the Undergraduate Studies Developmental Reading Coordinator work would not be separated and that she must to continue the work for both positions as before.
"Roberto continued to raise concerns that she was required to expend a disproportionate amount of her time and effort on work which was not permitted to be funded" by the federal grant.
The lawsuit said her concerns eventually led to KSU's Internal Audit office performing a compliance review of the TRIO Student Support Services program, resulting in 12 findings "of non-compliance with U.S. Department of Education standards for the TRIO grant." Two of those findings were "rated at the 'High' level of risk expressly based on the lack of grant accountability due to the disproportionate time and effort by Roberto on non-grant activities."
As a result, the lawsuit said, Kent State's Academic Success Center "realigned Roberto's responsibilities during the 2012-13 academic year and made other program changes."
The lawsuit also said Roberto tried to help students get assistance with problems, "consistent with university protocols."
But on May 27, 2013, she said, then-Grants Director Oscar Ramos gave her a performance evaluation, which "contained ratings of Approaches Expectations or Unsatisfactory in nearly all competencies," even though she provided "specific information and examples showing that she actually met and exceeded the competencies."
In her written rebuttal to the evaluation, Roberto "expressed concern that Defendant Ramos used his position of authority to impact Roberto's job record in retaliation for her reporting of unethical conduct regarding the TRIO grant," pointing out Ramos did not provide supporting evidence or examples for the ratings, even though the evaluation instructions required them.
She was told May 31 her contract would not be renewed.
She asked for but never received reference letters for her job search.
Roberto applied for her former job, "but was not given an interview and was not hired."
The lawsuit said: "The adverse performance evaluation, non-renewal of Roberto's contract, denial of employment references, and refusal to interview or hire Roberto for the open position, and possibly other adverse actions, were imposed on plaintiff because of Roberto's lawful acts to expose and stop false claims, in violation of the anti-retaliation provision of the (federal) False Claims Act."
Roberto said she already "has suffered substantial loss of compensation and benefits, approximately $150,000 to date; compensatory damages of $100,000, including out of pocket loss, mental anguish, humiliation, aggravation and inconvenience, and other damages to be proven at trial," and ongoing legal fees and expenses.
She wants the federal court to order Kent State University to reinstate her "to the same or similar position that she would have if she had been continuously employed and renewed," with the same compensation, benefits, "and other terms and conditions of employment as if she were continuously employed under consecutive contract renewals, and with all back pay and benefits from June 1, 2013, to the date of reinstatement," plus interest "from the date when such compensation would have been due if not for the unlawful retaliation."
She also wants the court to find all defendants, including Sewell, to be "jointly and severally liable for statutory damages of two times the amount of back pay, with prejudgment interest, as well as compensation for all special damages sustained as a result of the retaliation, including compensatory damages of $100,000."