The former president of Liberty University is reviving his lawsuit against his former employer, alleging the school defamed him and withheld his personal belongings.
Jerry Falwell Jr. revived his defamation lawsuit against the university in late October, according to a court filing. The lawsuit, filed in the Lynchburg Circuit Court, alleges that the school has defamed him, breached its contract with him, and withheld his property.
“As a direct and proximate result of Liberty’s Defamatory Statements,” the lawsuit alleges. “Mr. Falwell also became the subject of much ire and hatred over the ‘sin’ Liberty claimed he committed.”
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The one unique addition to Falwell’s newly filed lawsuit is the allegation that Liberty is keeping his personal property from him. By banning Falwell from the campus, the university has made it difficult to acquire items he owns, such as a .38 revolver, items from his office, three horses, legal files, and other historical items, his suit alleges.
The lawsuit follows a previous filing in October 2020, when Falwell sued the university, claiming it made defamatory statements involving Falwell, his wife Becki, and her affair with Giancarlo Granda. Falwell later dropped the lawsuit in December 2020, saying he decided to “take a timeout.”
Liberty filed a $10 million lawsuit against Falwell in April 2021, claiming Falwell breached his contract and fiduciary duty while president and withheld potentially damaging information from the university’s board of trustees while negotiating a new contract himself in 2019.
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Liberty University was accused in October of dismissing and discouraging reports of sexual assault on campus. The university is currently facing a lawsuit from 22 Jane Does who say their assault claims were dismissed and covered up by university officials. A former university vice president also sued the school, claiming that the university mishandled sexual assault complaints.
University officials called the allegations “deeply troubling” in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner.
“Liberty University prefers not to issue public comment on litigation, but the university would like to affirm its commitment to take all allegations of sexual assault seriously and in accordance with the law,” said a university spokesperson.
