A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accused Grambling State University, its president, and the Board of Supervisors of its parent system, the University of Louisiana, of discriminating against employees at Grambling and behaving in various ways that damaged the historically black Louisiana institution.

The lawyer for the Grambling State University Alumni Association, which brought the lawsuit last year along with other plaintiffs, said he would ask for a new trial this week, according to the Associated Press.

The judge, James Trimble of the U.S. District Court in Lake Charles, La., ruled on Thursday that the workers should have taken their employment-discrimination complaints to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission first. He also said that the alumni group had no standing to sue and that the employees who sued had failed to make specific allegations, such as whether the alleged discrimination had been based on race, sex, or some other factor, the AP reported.

The lawsuit contained more than 40 allegations of legal and “civil rights” violations, including that university employees had been fired because of “personal vendettas,” that proper financial records were not maintained, and that university officials illegally used the alumni association’s name and nonprofit status to collect sponsorship revenues from the Bayou Classic, a state football game.

The president, Horace A. Judson, and the other defendants have said that the claims against them are baseless. —Sara Hebel