On Jan. 27, Webster University’s president Elizabeth Stroble was served a lawsuit on behalf of David Garafola, former vice president of finance and administration for the university.
According to the text of the lawsuit, Garafola site employment discrimination on the part of the university.
Garafola claims he was fired speaking out against some of the university’s practices. Garafola also complained the university violated its conflict of interest policies in several contract bids.
Garafola states that as a direct result of his termination, he has suffered a loss of $320,000 annually and damage to his reputation, resulting in Garafola’s inability to find a new job.
Garafola has asked the university for compensation for his injuries, which exceed $25,000.
According to Case.net records, on June 13, Webster University’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case before judge Tom DePriest, Jr.
The motion was denied. The next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13 and is labeled as a “settlement conference.”
The conference will take place in the Division 8 courtroom of the St. Louis County Court building, located at 7900 Carandolet Ave., Clayton.
Although Garafola claims his dismissal has made him unable to find a new job, he has applied for a CFO position with Columbia College in Chicago, according to that university’s newspaper, The Chronicle.
The Chronicle reported Garafola and another candidate spoke before a number of faculty on May 23 and May 24 in regards to their candidacy.
Writer’s note: Despite numerous efforts to contact Garafola, he was unavailable for a comment.
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Of course Garafola wasn’t available for comment. Why? Because he never was. He was never readily available for the students, and always the hardest to reach when it came to student concerns.
So of course he got fired for that reason. A new administration stepped in, including Dr. Stroble, Dr. Paul Carney, Dr. Julian Schuster. All of these new people are focused on, and care about, the needs of students. I cannot tell you the joy shared among concerned students when news Garafola got fired. He just wasn’t in line with what Webster University strives to be.
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