Former President Sues Over His Firing

The ex-president of South Carolina State University, who was fired last December after a negative performance review, has sued the university and its trustees for allegedly defaming and conspiring against him, according to a report on The Chronicle’s News Blog.

In his lawsuit, Andrew Hugine Jr. also claims the university breached his employment contract. He is seeking up to $1-million in damages from the university and up to $2-million from trustees.

“Mr. Hugine, the university’s president since 2003, was in the second year of a five-year contract when he was fired in December. Trustees based his dismissal on a negative performance review, which cited poor fund raising and student retention.”

“The lawsuit says trustees ‘met, schemed, planned, and conspired’ to create the false job review, which led to Mr. Hugine’s termination, according to an article in The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg, S.C.”