A former lawmaker has won a legal battle against the Penn State Board of Trustees, but the war is far from over.
Former state legislator Jess Stairs is currently suing the board of trustees over what he says was a botched election. Stairs claims it cost him a seat on the board. He wants the court to declare the election invalid, and to either hold a reelection or award him Betsy Huber’s seat on the board.
Stairs went head-to-head with attorneys representing board members Keith Masser and Huber last month — and according to a judge’s ruling, Stairs came out on top. In an opinion and order filed in court this week, Centre County Common Pleas Judge Pamela Ruest overruled every single objection to the lawsuit filed by attorneys for Masser, Huber and the board of trustees.
Attorneys for the defendants had argued that Stairs waited too long to file his lawsuit, that he didn’t have legal standing to sue, and that Masser should be dismissed from the suit.
Stairs’ lawsuit stems from the the board of trustees election held in May 2014. He claims that members of Pennsylvania’s agricultural societies didn’t follow the board’s bylaws and confer with each other before casting their votes. Because of this, he says that the members who planned to vote for him didn’t get the chance — which Stairs believes cost him a seat on the board.
Attorneys for the board argued that Stairs waited several months to file his lawsuit, which is much too long to wait when dealing with something as time-sensitive as election results. But Judge Ruest says that argument doesn’t work here because Stairs immediately went to the university with his concerns.
“Any delay in this case did not arise from Plaintiff’s failure to exercise due diligence,” Ruest writes in her opinion. “…Defendants were put on notice of Plaintiff’s allegations following the election.”
Ruest also acknowledges that Masser had a large lead in the election and would’ve won his seat regardless of what happened with Stairs and Huber — but she also says “it would be premature…to dismiss Defendant Masser from the case before Plaintiff had an opportunity for discovery.”
Attorneys for the defendants have also argued that the agricultural delegates who didn’t get to vote, and not Stairs, are the one who have standing to bring the lawsuit, but Ruest doesn’t buy that either. Ruest says Stairs has standing to bring his lawsuit because the relief he seeks “could remedy the harm alleged.”
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