Jerry Falwell Jr .: Liberty University is suing the former president

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The university’s lawsuit alleges Falwell was unfair to the executive committee when negotiating an exceptionally generous severance package, knowing that an emerging sex scandal would likely shut him out at some point. The lawsuit also alleges that Falwell violated his fiduciary duty as president of the university and member of the board of directors and was involved in a legal conspiracy to conceal an alleged plan to extort Falwell from the university.

Liberty is demanding more than $ 40 million in compensatory and punitive damages “plus any other damages that can be proven at trial,” the lawsuit said.

The charge was filed Thursday in a state court in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Liberty University spokesman Scott Lamb has declined to comment further on the current lawsuit.

CNN contacted Falwell and a lawyer who has represented him in other legal cases, but has not yet heard.

In a statement to the New York Times, Mr. Falwell said the trial was “full of lies and half-truths” and “yet another attempt to slander me and discredit my track record, after a series of harsh and unnecessary actions.”
Falwell resigned as president of Liberty University last August after a series of scandals and would receive a severance payment of $ 10.5 million from the school over the next few years.
Falwell sued Liberty University last fall for defamation after leaving Christian school. He later stopped that lawsuit in December.
“I am saddened that college officials, with whom I have shared so much success and enjoyed such positive relationships, rushed to conclusions about the allegations against my character, did not properly investigate them, and subsequently damaged my reputation after my forced resignation.” Falwell said in a statement after he filed the defamation lawsuit

The controversies

According to the Liberty University lawsuit, Falwell acted against the “ ghost ” of the university on multiple occasions, and his alleged scandalous acts ultimately damaged the school and its reputation. The school is known for its openly conservative policy, which, according to the lawsuit, requires students to refrain from “indecent behavior” and drinking alcohol.

Last August, Giancarlo Granda, a former hotel lifeguard, went public with allegations that he and Falwell’s wife Becki had been engaged in sexual intercourse for years, sometimes while the evangelical leader watched.
Former President Donald Trump with Jerry Falwell Jr. during inception at Liberty University in May 2017.

Falwell acknowledged their affair in a statement at the time, saying, “Becki had an inappropriate personal relationship with this person, which is something I was not involved in.” He said he reconciled with his wife and sought professional help. Falwell had also said in his statement that Granda had attempted to blackmail him and his wife, an accusation Granda denied.

The university lawsuit alleges that, rather than exposing Granda’s alleged blackmail attempts at the university, Falwell “led to a scheme to cover up the unauthorized conduct.”

“Falwell Jr. wanted Liberty to pay him termination benefits and retirement benefits if Granda disclosed the Granda allegations, and Falwell Jr. would thus knowingly withhold material information from Liberty that would have changed the nature of the 2019 Labor Agreement negotiations,” says.

Granda’s allegations were the latest controversy leading to a dramatic fall from grace for one of the country’s most prominent evangelicals.

Jerry Falwell Jr. says he has resigned as president of Liberty University
Last June, Falwell apologized after removing a much-criticized tweet showing one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan hood and jacket.
And later in August, the Liberty University executive committee asked Falwell to take “indefinite leave of absence” after posting a photo to Instagram showing him with his pants unzipped and his stomach exposed. In the photo, Falwell is holding a cup of dark liquid and has an arm around a woman whose shorts are also unzipped.

Shortly afterwards, Falwell had said in a radio interview that the woman was his wife’s assistant and that they were at a costume party. He said the incident was “just fun,” but added that he should never have posted the photo.

Lawsuit alleges that Falwell wanted an ‘escape hatch’

Falwell, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, wanted an “escape hatch” from all political and personal ramifications during the 2019 employment deal negotiations, according to the lawsuit.

As Trump seeks reelection, a chapter concludes on the Falwell era of the religious right

Falwell Jr. requested from the Executive Committee to give him a safety valve to protect him from such actions, having raised his profile in 2016 by being the first major evangelical leader to personally endorse Donald Trump for president. Falwell Jr. claimed he wanted an escape hatch for political and personal ramifications, ‘the lawsuit says.

Falwell is the son of Reverend Jerry Falwell, who co-founded Liberty University in 1971 and helped establish the conservative moral majority. The eldest Falwell died in 2007 and his son succeeded him as president of the university.

His son significantly raised the school’s profile – and finances – as president.

As president, Falwell said he oversaw $ 1 billion in new construction projects, pioneered online learning platforms that boosted enrollment, and took Liberty’s football and basketball teams to Division 1, the most competitive level of college sports. The school’s endowment grew to $ 1.6 billion by 2020.

CNN’s Daniel Burke contributed to this report.

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