Lawsuit against MSU College of Law moves forward

By Lauren Gibbons | Originally Published: 02/21/12 10:19pm |Modified: 02/21/12 10:38pm |

Spaeth

A lawsuit claiming the MSU College of Law discriminated against a 61-year-old job applicant is moving forward after a federal court ruling Friday.

The suit, which first was filed July 28, 2011, by Nicholas Spaeth, claimed the MSU College of Law and five other law schools discriminated against him because of his age when they reviewed job applicants.

In a ruling FDCO 20120217C24.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR from the District of Columbia’s U.S. District Court, Judge Ellen Huvelle determined the final outcomes of the cases would be judged in the home states of each of the universities on the suit.

Alan Kabat, a partner at Bernabei & Wachtel PLLC — the legal firm representing Spaeth in the case — said the case against the MSU College of Law will be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

A formal court date has not yet been set for the suit, Kabat said.

Other law schools included in the suit are the University of Missouri, the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law, Georgetown University, the University of Iowa College of Law and the University of Maryland School of Law.

Spaeth filed the $“500,000 suit”:http://statenews.com/index.php/article/2011/09/lawsuit_requests_msus_timely_response in federal court after he applied for teaching positions at more than 100 colleges and universities and was not offered a position at any of them.

He was a former Rhodes scholar, graduated from Stanford University College of Law, served as the North Dakota attorney general and was a clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kabat said Spaeth will move forward with the suit and said it was a positive sign that none of the cases against the colleges and universities were dismissed outright.

In a statement, MSU College of Law Dean Joan Howarth said the recent ruling was a positive step toward a decision in favor of the college.

“We have not, do not and will not discriminate on the basis of age or any other improper grounds,” Howarth said in the statement. “We are pleased with the court’s ruling from Friday because it moves us closer to being able to establish definitively that we did not discriminate.”

University of Iowa spokesman Tom Moore said university policy prevented him from commenting on the case specifically, but said the university believes it is in compliance with the law in its hiring practices.

“We are confident that our hiring processes in all matters involving hiring follow our university policy and reinforces our commitment to equal opportunity,” Moore said. “We believe we are conforming with the letter of the law.”