The former state legislator who claims he was cheated out of a seat on the Penn State Board of Trustees got his first day in court on Monday — and it looks there will be more to come.
Attorneys for former Republican state representative Jess Stairs duked it out with attorneys for board member Betsy Huber and board chairman Keith Masser in front of Centre County Judge Pamela Ruest, but the lawsuit is still in its early stages.
Dean Piermattei, an attorney for Stairs, says Stairs was cost a seat on the board because of a botched election that he claims was improper and invalid.
Ken Argentieri, an attorney for Huber and Masser, countered by arguing that Stairs has no legal standing to bring the lawsuit. Argentieri also said Stairs waited several months to file his suit, unnecessarily delaying the process.
“This case is pretty straightforward,” Argentieri said.
The debate stems from a BOT election held in May 2014. Stairs was a candidate for one of two open trustee positions that are determined by representatives from Pennsylvania’s agricultural societies. Three agricultural society representatives per county are permitted to cast their ballots, as laid out in the BOT’s bylaws.
However, Venango County had six delegates from two agricultural societies: three from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (who Stairs claims planned to vote for him) and three from the Pennsylvania State Grange. Stairs says the grange representatives voted without first consulting with the farm bureau to determine which three delegates would vote — which Stairs says they are required to do under the BOT bylaws.
Staris lost by one vote to Huber, while Masser led the election by a 35 vote margin. Stairs wants the court to void the election and place him on the board in Huber’s place.
“The first thing that’s clear to me is that Mr. Masser doesn’t belong in this case,” Argentieri said.
He argued that — even if Stairs’ allegations are completely true — Masser still would’ve won his “duly elected” seat on the board. Argentieri also said that Stairs’ civil complaint makes no allegations about Masser specifically.
Piermattei said Masser shouldn’t be dismissed from the lawsuit before it moves to the discovery phase. He pointed out that Penn State claims to have conducted an investigation into the May election, which may have involved Masser’s input. Argentieri said dismissing Masser would be “premature” without first gathering documents related to the investigation.
“There is no reason to speculate that Mr. Masser might have done something wrong when there are no such allegations in the complaint,” Argentieri said.
Argentieri went on to argue that, if Stairs’ allegations are true, then it is the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau that was directly impacted by being denied its chance to vote. He says the bureau, not Stairs, has legal standing to bring a lawsuit, which they have chosen not to do.
He also said that Stairs waited until several months after the election to file his lawsuit, which Argentieri argued is much too long when dealing with something as time-sensitive as an election.
“Elections, by their nature, require a kind of finality,” he said.
Piermattei said Stairs immediately contacted the university after the election, prompting the investigation by Penn State. He said Stairs was not provided any details or updates during that process, and pointed out the Stairs filed his lawsuit very shortly after he learned that Penn State was upholding the election results.
“If there was a delay in this cause, it was caused primarily by the university’s actions,” Piermattei said.
Judge Ruest did not say when she would issue her ruling.
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