By Alabama Public Radio
Tuscaloosa, AL – A federal jury has awarded two million dollars to a former vice president of Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa who was fired after reporting allegations of fraud and unethical conduct at the school.
Ted Spring, now vice president of Central Lakes Community College in Minnesota, was awarded back pay along with punitive damages and compensation for emotional damage. Spring had sued Tom Umphrey, the now retired president of Shelton and a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of West Alabama.
Spring's attorney says his client was falsely accused of insubordination, incompetence and neglect of duty when he was fired in 1999. He says the firing was retaliation after Spring reported allegations of academic fraud, scholarship fraud, and other possible illegal acts in 1998.
The verdict is expected to be appealed.