Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, and Oral Roberts University have been sued by three former professors, saying they were wrongfully dismissed.
The lawsuit centers around Richard Roberts allegedly asking a professor and his students to use university resources to help a county commissioner successfully run for mayor of Tulsa. It claims they were dismissed for reporting it to the board of regents.
Nonprofit status disallows the University from legally using resources to promote political candidates on a state or federal level.
Other allegations are there was large amounts of spending at the expense of donors. An AP report says it included "numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay."
The way this was supposedly discovered was a little suspicious, in that a ORU student was fixing Stephanie Cantese's laptop, who is Richard Roberts' sister-in-law, when an internal document was discovered and later a copy given to a professor. It was said to show that Richard Roberts and his family had "moral and ethical lapses."
Roberts responded to the lawsuit saying, "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."
Some of the allegations in the lawsuit:
_ A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.
_ Mrs. Roberts — who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site — frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at university expense."
_ The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president."
_ Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.
_ Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors.
_ University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts' home to do the daughters' homework.
_ The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for exclusive use by the Roberts' children.
Another televangelist, John Hagee, a member of the board of regents at the university, said the board "is conducting a full and thorough investigation."
» Richard Roberts, along with Oral Roberts University, Sued by Former Professors from ManagersRealm
Last post we talked about managing high-profile employees, and not long after posting, another case has arisen involving Richard and Lindsay Roberts, along with Oral Roberts University.Three former professors of the university have sued Richard Roberts... [Read More]
Tracked on: October 5, 2007 5:41 PM | Permalink to Trackback