A 2015 lawsuit ruling that awarded a former Alabama State University athletic executive more than $140,000 has been reversed by the state’s supreme court.Judges absolved the university of a ruling which awarded lost wages and court costs to former athletic director Stacy Danley, and upheld a dismissal of ASU’s counter claim against Danley for unauthorized travel expenses.
Danley accused the school of wrongful termination in 2013, and specifically former ASU President William Harris and former CEO John Knight for creating an untenable working environment, which included a request from Knight to solicit a marketing firm contracted by ASU athletics to hire his daughter.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports that Alabama State and its former officials were protected by state immunity in the case, and that the lower court “erred” in its specific award granted to Danley.
In a release, ASU officials applauded the decision.
Alabama State University was advised today that the Supreme Court of Alabama in its decision rendered in Alabama State University vs. Stacy Danley, reversed the trial court’s previously awarded $140,000 in favor of Stacy Danley, former ASU director of Athletics, said Kenneth L. Thomas, ASU’s general counsel.
“ASU and its officials remained confident throughout the appeal, as they did during the trial, that the University did nothing wrong and was well within its rights to terminate Danley’s employment as director of ASU Athletics,” Thomas said.
“We thank the Supreme Court of Alabama for upholding the long-standing legal principles of sovereign and state-agent immunities,” Thomas added.
Interesting