Caelin Bragg
Lantern Staff
Former art instructor Roger Mathews has filed a lawsuit against Butler Community College alleging he was discriminated against because of his age.
Mathews, the plaintiff in this lawsuit, was hired by Butler as a part-time instructor in October of 1980, and he was hired as a full-time instructor during the fall semester of 1986 and was employed until he felt forced to resign in the December of 2015, according to the initial complaint filed to the courts by the plaintiff.
Mathews claims he was retaliated against by Butler based on events that occurred earlier that year. The lawsuit was filed in July of 2017. Mathews sent complaints to the Kansas Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in October 2015 and May 2016.
Mathews’ attorney, Terry Mann of the Martin Pringle Law Firm in Wichita, claims that Mathews had intended to work at Butler for eight additional years following his unplanned resignation. Edward Keeley of McDonald Tinker in Wichita represents Butler.
Keeley and Butler President Kim Krull declined to comment on the lawsuit.
From spark to blaze
On the morning of April 24, 2015, former Campus Public Safety Officer Kellen Morris discovered a fire that had broken out in Room 324 of the 300 Building on the El Dorado campus.
Upon investigation by chief of police at the time, James Bryan, the source of the fire was determined to be an electric kiln for pottery that was located in Room 324, which was the classroom that Mathews held his classes in, that had caught materials placed on it on fire. Mathews claimed that the kiln had not been in use for over a year.
Bryan told Mathews that the classroom was now a crime scene, and that Mathews was being subject to a criminal investigation. He was being investigated for theft because he used college equipment to produce art pieces for personal use and sale, which Mathews claimed he was never told to stop doing. Bryan said he was also being investigated for maintaining a public nuisance for storing flammable material near the kiln and that he was being investigated for interfering with law enforcement for speaking to a witness, according to the facts presented in the lawsuit.
According to the facts presented in the lawsuit, Krull recommended to the Board of Trustees that Mathews’ employment be terminated. The Board declined the recommendation and later put Mathews on a “corrective action plan,” which he had to submit daily letters of compliance of to his dean, former Dean of Fine Arts and Communications Jay Moorman.
Mathews planned to continue working at Butler still, but he was told by Lead Art Instructor Valerie Haring that he would have to teach an AR100, Art Appreciation, class in the spring of 2016, which he had never taught before and had not originally taken in 30 years and felt unqualified to teach. Mathews filed his resignation letter a few days after being informed of his spring 2016 class.
Moorman, Haring and vice president of academics at the time Karla Fisher did not respond for comment at press time. Bryan could not be reached for comment at press time.
What lies ahead
Butler attempted to request a summary judgment on the case, and filed for one on Friday, Feb. 8. United States District Judge Eric Melgren denied Butler’s request saying that they did not satisfy the requirements for a summary judgment.
Summary judgments can be filed when one party believes “that there is no genuine issue” to the facts presented in the case, according to the denial order by Judge Melgren, meaning that a summary judgment case can be resolved by a judge without a full trial.
The case is now scheduled to go to a jury trial on Monday, Jan. 6 at the District Court in Wichita in courtroom 408. The trial is expected to run until Monday, Jan. 13 according to Mann.
Mathews is seeking back- and front-pay, the money expected from his salary had he continued to work at Butler from the date of his unexpected resignation to the day he had planned to retire in 2023. They are also seeking liquid damages, which are rewarded based on the violation of a contract between parties.
