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| CU asks court to bill Ward Churchill for case fees |
| 2009-10-15 |
| The University of Colorado is asking for more than $52,000 from Ward Churchill to recover costs the school incurred fighting a lawsuit filed by the former ethnic studies professor. The total tab, filed in Denver District Court last week, includes individual expenses ranging from $2 for courthouse parking to $22,095 for "in-trial video and visual exhibits." "The university believes that what we've filed is both fair and appropriate for some of the expenses that we incurred during the trial," said Ken McConnellogue, spokesman for the University of Colorado system. Churchill was fired in July 2007 after CU said he had committed repeated academic fraud in his scholarship. The ethnic studies professor then sued the school, claiming that the university really fired him over a controversial essay he had written several years earlier. In the essay, Churchill called victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks "little Eichmanns" -- a reference to an architect of the Holocaust. A Denver jury found that CU unlawfully fired Churchill for exercising his right to free speech, but only awarded him $1 in damages. After considering the jury's ruling, Chief Denver District Court Judge Larry Naves declined to award Churchill his job back or any compensation. Churchill has vowed to appeal the ruling. Colorado law requires the court to award the "prevailing party," in this case CU, "reasonable costs" associated with the trial. Now CU has finished tallying up its expenses, which amount to $52,181.71, and the school has filed a motion in Denver District Court requesting payment from Churchill. Churchill's lawyer, David Lane, however, said the expenses filed by CU are well beyond the scope of what the Colorado law allows. "They're not entitled to virtually any of it," Lane said. "Even Judge Naves will probably cut that back substantially. The statute is very limited in what they can get reimbursed." Lane will be able to challenge the charges before Naves makes a final decision. But in the end, fighting over the university's expenses won't make a difference, Lane said, since Churchill has already filed an appeal -- one that Lane is confident he'll win. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |