LOCK HAVEN - Lock Haven University's athletic director and some of her counterparts from other state-run universities have sued the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), alleging they are owed millions of dollars for unpaid overtime work and lost pension contributions.
The suit was filed Aug. 12 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on behalf of LHU Athletic Director Sharon Taylor, seven other directors and associate directors, against PASSHE and their own current or former labor union, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF).
The plaintiffs allege that neither PASSHE nor the union have taken any steps to resolve the problem, despite having been alerted to it more than three and a half years ago by Taylor.
Taylor declined to comment about the lawsuit, saying it's something the union and PASSHE will have to work out between themselves.
Neither of those entities had responded to the legal action as of Wednesday.
The plaintiffs are each seeking at least $1 million in back overtime pay and lost pension contributions, in addition to attorney's fees and punitive damages.
Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are the administrators' respective universities - California, Lock Haven, West Chester, Mansfield, Shippensburg and Indiana.
Locally, they include Danielle Barney and Peter Campbell, both assistant athletic directors at LHU.
The dispute arises from the job classification under which the administrators fall. According to the lawsuit, under the labor contract the directors are considered ''academic faculty,'' which are full-time and part-time professors, librarians and some others whose primary responsibilities are outside of the classroom.
So their workloads are structured like, say, a biology professor teaching four three-credit classes during a semester.
In other words, amid their full-week work schedule, they are supposed to work the equivalent of 12 class hours per week per semester; if they work the equivalent of more than 15 class hours per week during a semester, they are due overtime, according to the contract.
The suit suggests that the major concern is not so much about overtime compensation as it is about the work week itself.
Others who fall in the same "academic faculty" category, like librarians, have their work hours outlined specifically in terms of the contract.
But athletic directors point to the fact that they are often called upon to work weekends and nights, up to 60 and 70 hours a week, while being paid only for their base responsibilities, according to the suit.
The lawsuit is seen as an effort to resolve exactly what a "work week' means for an athletic director or assistant athletic director, in light of a lack of accurate and concise definitions or agreement between the union and PASSHE.
It's unclear exactly how many hours are required for the administrative positions, or exactly what equivalencies are being compared, as both the administrators and instructors work more than the base 12 class hours per week.
Instructors who teach more than the required minimum are provided with "overload" compensation.
In the case of the administrator-plaintiffs, their attorney, D. Scott Lautner of Pittsburgh, says that hasn't occurred, so they are being undercompensated by the terms of the contract.
According to the state system, the LHU plaintiffs' compensation for 2009, the last full year on record, are as follows: Assistant Athletic Director Peter Campbell, $101,937; Assistant Athletic Director Danielle Barney, $80,749; and Athletic Director Sharon Taylor, $127,360.
The legal action is based, in part, on a grievance filed by Taylor in December 2006, claiming that because of her duties she had worked an average of 66 hours per week from the fall 1996 semester to the spring 2006 semester.
Aside from the overtime pay, the administrators contend that APSCUF has known about the problem at least since Taylor filed the grievance, ''yet has failed and/or refused to file anything for the benefit of all other members, including the other plaintiffs herein or any other athletic administrator who was or is currently a member of APSCUF.''
Lautner conceded there are other university administrators who did not join the lawsuit.
Besides Taylor, Campbell and Barney, other current and former athletic directors named in the action include Roger Maisner of Mansfield, Roberta Page of Fortville, Ind., Frances A. Nee of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Pucci of Jefferson Hills, director at California University of Pennsylvania, and Barbara Cleghorn, now of Surfside Beach, S.C.
The suit does not specify which administrators are from which schools, and which are currently employed.
Efforts were made to obtain comments from Campbell and Barney, but Campbell declined and Barney was not available.
Taylor has been involved in a number of civil legal actions involving LHU, the most recent of which alleges various university boosters and a Williamsport radio station damaged her reputation and tried to get her fired.
That civil action asks for $350,000 in compensatory damages in addition to punitive damages and court fees, and is currently in the discovery process in Clinton County Court of Common Pleas.
Court records indicate the university has paid nearly $250,000 to settle two of seven lawsuits - five cases are pending.
In a verdict last year, the court ordered the university to pay ex-assistant athletic director Joseph Patrick Guerriero another $60,000 after a jury agreed with Guerriero the university reneged on the terms of a 2006 settlement giving him a two-year appointment as director of sports marketing. The university removed Guerriero after several months, leading to the suit.
In 2008, to end a suit that contended female coaches in the state system (of which LHU is a part) were paid less than their male counterparts, LHU paid field hockey coach Patricia Rudy $200,000.
George "Bart" Garlick, the former women's swim coach, has filed suit, alleging Taylor favored women over men for coaching positions after his contract was not renewed beyond 2005.
John Wilson Jr., head men's basketball coach, charges in a federal civil rights suit against LHU and Taylor that he has been harassed, given unfair performance ratings and held to stricter responsibilities than other coaches because he is African-American.
Wrestler Landis Wright alleges he lost his scholarship after being forced off of the team. He has charged Taylor, ex-wrestling Coach Rocky Bonomo and university President Dr. Keith Miller with retaliation and negligent supervision.
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The Indiana Gazette newspaper at www.indianagazette.com contributed to this report.
