Post by The Cats on Jul 18, 2023 11:40:23 GMT -5
The Eastern Kentucky University Board of Regents has moved to settle the ongoing lawsuit between the university and the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) for a sum of $750,000. The decision, made in a special called meeting held via Zoom on Friday, June 23, comes nearly two years after the lawsuit was initially filed by the OVC.
According to an appeal filed in Kentucky’s Franklin Circuit Court in January 2023, EKU made the decision in January 2021 to leave the conference, effective in July of that same year. The university was contractually obligated by the conference to “provide two years’ notice of its intent to withdraw,” states the appeal. However, in failing to do so, the appeal continues. EKU was required to pay a $1 million exit fee, to which EKU notified the conference it would not pay.
“(The) OVC then filed a complaint in Franklin Circuit Court alleging that EKU breached its contract (i.e., the OVC Constitution) with OVC,” the appeal states. “The complaint claimed that EKU’s failure to pay the exit fee caused OVC – and its members – damage and it sought a declaratory judgment stating the OVC Constitution was a valid contract that obligated EKU to pay the fee.”
EKU did not pay the exit fee “immediately on demand,” said EKU President David McFaddin, leading the OVC to file suit against the university in August 2021.
In April, EKU and the OVC were ordered by 48th Judicial Circuit Judge Philip Shepherd to confer about amicably dissolving the dispute, McFaddin said.
According to an appeal filed in Kentucky’s Franklin Circuit Court in January 2023, EKU made the decision in January 2021 to leave the conference, effective in July of that same year. The university was contractually obligated by the conference to “provide two years’ notice of its intent to withdraw,” states the appeal. However, in failing to do so, the appeal continues. EKU was required to pay a $1 million exit fee, to which EKU notified the conference it would not pay.
“(The) OVC then filed a complaint in Franklin Circuit Court alleging that EKU breached its contract (i.e., the OVC Constitution) with OVC,” the appeal states. “The complaint claimed that EKU’s failure to pay the exit fee caused OVC – and its members – damage and it sought a declaratory judgment stating the OVC Constitution was a valid contract that obligated EKU to pay the fee.”
EKU did not pay the exit fee “immediately on demand,” said EKU President David McFaddin, leading the OVC to file suit against the university in August 2021.
In April, EKU and the OVC were ordered by 48th Judicial Circuit Judge Philip Shepherd to confer about amicably dissolving the dispute, McFaddin said.