RICHMOND, Virginia, USA (AP) – Freedom University has filed a civil lawsuit against its former leader, Jerry Falwell Jr., seeking tens of millions in damages after the two sides bitterly parted ways last year. past.
The complaint, filed Thursday at the Lynchburg Circuit, alleges that Falwell devised a “resource-rich exit strategy” for his role as president and chancellor in the form of a lucrative 2019 labor agreement, while withholding harmful information from the evangelical school about a personal scandal that would explode in public view the following year.
“Despite his clear obligations as an executive and officer at Liberty, Falwell Jr. chose personal protection,” the lawsuit says.
He also alleges that Falwell did not disclose and address “the problem of his personal disability due to alcohol” and has refused to return the confidential information of Liberty and other personal property completely.
Falwell responded Friday to a call from The Associated Press with a text message saying he was not available to speak.
It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer to represent him in the matter. The AP left a message seeking comment with a lawyer who has previously represented it.
The departure of Falwell from the University of Virginia in August 2020, came shortly after Giancarlo Granda, a younger business partner in the Falwell family, said he had been in a sexual relationship for many years with Falwell’s wife, Becki Falwell, and that Jerry Falwell participated in some links as a voyeur.
Although the Falwells acknowledged that Granda and Becki Falwell had an affair, Jerry Falwell denied any involvement. The couple alleged that Granda tried to extort them by threatening to reveal the relationship.
The lawsuit says Falwell had a “fiduciary duty to disclose Granda’s extortionary actions and to reveal the potential for serious harm to Liberty.”
Instead, Falwell “promoted the conspiracy of silence and negotiated a 2019 Labor Agreement that contained a higher wage by Liberty,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit argues that Falwell and Granda’s actions have harmed Liberty’s enrollment, damaged fundraising, disrupted teachers, and resulted in the 2019 deal that was “detrimental to Liberty’s interests.” “and damaged the school ‘s reputation. Granda is not named defendant in the lawsuit.
University spokesman Scott Lamb said “Liberty’s only word on the subject is demand.”
Before the Granda scandal broke out, Falwell had already been on leave after posting a photo on social media that caused a stir. He showed Falwell on a yacht with a drink in his hand and arm around a young woman who was not his wife, his zip-free pants, and his underwear exposed.
The complaint offers new details, written with a flowery reflection from the university’s perspective on his breakup with Falwell.
“The time has come for Falwell Jr. to charge Liberty for the prodigious success,” he says of the contract negotiations. The long treatise includes subsections with titles such as “Falwell’s Auspicious Acts of August of 2020” and “Falwell Jr.’s Hard Fall,” which refers to a fall down the stairs that caused a 911 call.
According to the lawsuit, after Falwell did a radio interview about the yacht’s photo in which he offered a “confusing” explanation, Becki Falwell “intervened.”
The lawsuit says Becki Falwell contacted three members of the Liberty board executive committee to alert them to what she “described as her husband’s excessive alcohol use.”
“Becki’s sincere appeal impacted Liberty leaders and helped provide a context for understanding Falwell’s dubious public comments, troubling behavior, and inappropriate posts on social media,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also alleges there were concerns in Liberty that Falwell “smelled of alcohol during work interactions.”
It was agreed that Falwell would leave and Liberty would pay for his “rehabilitation,” but a dispute later arose between Falwell and school leaders over the type of treatment, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges three offenses: breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and legal conspiracy.
In the second case, the lawsuit says it is seeking damages in excess of $ 10 million. On the conspiracy charge, he seeks $ 10 million in compensatory damages and argues that the sum should be tripled, as permitted by state law in limited circumstances, plus $ 350,000 in punitive damages. Liberty is also looking for other costs and fees.
Falwell, a lawyer and real estate developer, had led Liberty since the 2007 death of his televangelist father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who also founded the moral majority, making evangelicals a key Republican force.
In early 2016, Falwell became one of the first conservative Christians to support Donald Trump for the presidency and defended him after Trump’s obscure statements about women and sexual assault, captured on a recording of “Access Hollywood “2005, will be made public at the end of the campaign.
Falwell continued the judicial controversy and stayed on the news, vigorously criticizing Democrats online.
In late August, shortly after Falwell’s resignation, Liberty announced it which opened an independent investigation into Falwell’s tenure as president. The investigation, led by an external accounting firm and described by the school as a broad look at “all facets” of Liberty’s operation under Falwell, is ongoing, and the school has not released any information. preliminary.
Falwell sued Liberty for defamation in October, alleging the school had damaged its reputation, but dropped the case in December without explanation.