Editor's Note: The headline has been changed from its original wording.
Ohio University was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in attorney fees last month as part of its continued legal battle with engineering professor Jay Gunasekera.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio ruled that OU must pay $111,815 in attorney fees and about $6,425 in costs and expenses to the Marshall and Morrow law firm in Columbus, Gunasekera’s attorneys.
Although the case has not yet been settled, Gunasekera asked the court to approve an interim award of attorney fees.
“It’s a bit unusual …” attorney John Marshall said, adding that the interim award was not unheard of because the court had ruled in favor of Gunasekera in all the liability portions of the case.
Marshall said he could not estimate how much more OU might have to pay in damages and attorney fees.
A trial is scheduled for April 25 when a jury will determine how much money Gunasekera should be awarded for damages associated with the loss of his Graduate Faculty Status, according to court documents. The amount could total $1 or more.
OU argued that Gunasekera did not exhibit financial hardship and that determining the proper amount of fees the university owed would unnecessarily delay the case.
District Court Judge Algenon Marbley stated that Gunasekera was not required to prove financial hardship and that OU’s second argument was “ultimately unpersuasive,” according to court documents.
The court did, however, rule that OU did not have to pay an additional $1,785 in attorney fees because the time was spent speaking to various media organizations.
Last month’s decision is just part of a more than four year battle between OU and Gunasekera.
In August 2006, Gunasekera sued Russ College of Engineering Dean Dennis Irwin and former Executive Vice President and Provost Kathy Krendl, saying he was denied the opportunity for a name-clearing hearing after being accused of ethical misconduct. Gunasekera was stripped of his Graduate Faculty Status after it was found that several of his former advisees had plagiarized on their theses.
The court ultimately ruled that OU offer Gunasekera a public name-clearing hearing and that a jury will decide the amount of damages he should be awarded.
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