UTMB layoff lawsuit update

Missed this last week.

A lawsuit challenging the layoffs of nearly 3,000 employees at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will be fought on home turf, a state district judge ruled Wednesday.

The courtroom audience applauded as Galveston County District Judge Wayne Mallia rejected an attempt by attorneys for the University of Texas Board of Regents to move the lawsuit to El Paso.

Alistair Dawson, an attorney for the regents, had argued that El Paso was neutral ground.

The lawsuit was filed in December and it alleges that the regents violated state open records laws in making the decision to lay off these employees.

Galveston attorney Joe Jaworski, interviewed after the ruling, said a move to El Paso would have stripped the plaintiffs of the advantage of trying the case in the area most affected by the layoffs.

"The fact that UT would as a matter of first action try to get the case out of the city shows how important it is," Jaworski said.

[...]

Both sides were given 30 minutes to convince Mallia where the proper venue should be. Dawson argued that the law required the case be tried where the meetings were held, in Austin or El Paso. He acknowledged that Austin would be favorable to the regents, but said El Paso was neutral.

But Mallia sided with Jaworski, ruling that the lawsuit sought to reverse the layoff of UTMB employees and therefore Galveston was the proper venue.

The next hearing is scheduled for October 19. In the meantime, regents will be meeting today to discuss the suit and the future of UTMB clinical enterprise, which is to say whether or not to accept the report by Kurt Salmon Associates that recommends moving those operations to League City. The Texas Faculty Association has more - if you really want to get into detail, start here and work your way through.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on March 10, 2009 to Hurricane Katrina