Liberty University has another lawsuit to worry about after a former senior executive took legal action against the school on Monday, claiming he has been wrongfully terminated for defending the female students who accuse Liberty of enabling sexual assault on campus.
Scott Lamb, the former senior vice president for communications and public engagement at Liberty, sued the Virginia-based school for firing him under the instruction of President Jerry Prevo.
Lamb claims the decision is a veiled retaliation against him for calling out university leaders for mishandling the sexual abuse complaints and for participating in external interviews related to the investigation.
“Despite Plaintiff’s achievements in his role, Defendant terminated his employment in retaliation for his opposition to the University’s mishandling of Title IX sexual misconduct accusations…and his participation in an internal investigation conducted by outside counsel of the same,” the lawsuit read.
“Plaintiff again asserted that the University needed to address the Title IX violations or, he believed, it would face a wave of allegations centered around Title IX,” it added.
Furthermore, the plaintiff’s camp suggests that the severance pay that came with the termination was an attempt to bribe Lamb so he would stay silent.
— Scott Lamb (@insidervthefirm) October 22, 2021
Liberty’s Sexual Abuse Probe
This lawsuit follows a separate case in which 12 women accuse Liberty of allowing sexual assault to take hold of its campus by mishandling and suppressing complaints.
In Jane Does 1-12 v. Liberty University, the plaintiffs claimed that Liberty’s Title IX office did not further investigate reports and favored the accused over the female students, even if the supposed victims were able to provide evidence, such as text messages and pictures of inflicted wounds.
Jane 16, a 20-year-old student, told the Guardian that her assailant was a member of the college football team. She was unable to continue her studies at Liberty because of the incident, but she noted that the athlete was still on the team.
“I loved Liberty and now I feel that I can’t trust them to give me justice. The Liberty Way made me scared to report,” she said.