As Dean Bill Hubble retires, the lawsuit involving him proceeds, and the Chancellor may be deposed.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Online Editor
Deborah Bush-Munson’s lawsuit against the college continues, as a key figure involved retires and the college attempts to “quash” the deposition of the chancellor per an Aug. 19 court filing.
The case, DEBORAH BUSH-MUNSON V THE JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT, was previously profiled extensively in the March 2024 issue of The Montage. Bush-Munson, a former professor at the Forest Park Campus, is suing the college for damages over what she claims is racial discrimination. She claims that as a result of the college’s conduct and actions over a multi-year period, (including the deactivation of the Dental Assisting Program that she was in charge of and specifically noting the actions of the now retired Health and Sciences Dean Bill Hubble) she has suffered lost wages and benefits of employment and will continue to suffer lost wages and benefits in the future. She also says that she has suffered emotional distress and mental anguish. Her suit formally claims that her race, her complaints and her charges of discrimination were deciding factors in the college’s decision to effectively terminate her employment.
Depositions in the case have begun, but the college’s legal team has filed a motion to “quash” a still-to-be-held deposition of Chancellor Jeff Pittman, claiming that it would be unnecessary and prejudicial since other depositions, including that of Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Andrew Langrehr, have already taken place.
Page six of the Aug. 19 filing reads, “Plaintiff has deposed or will depose every direct decision-maker involved in Plaintiff’s alleged adverse employment actions. Plaintiff’s counsel has not presented any valid reasons or need to depose Dr. Pittman, nor has he presented any information that Dr. Pittman is the only person who can answer such questions related to Plaintiff’s allegations.”
It continues, “This deposition is overly broad, unduly burdensome, expensive, and an annoyance. There is no need to depose Dr. Pittman and Defendant will be prejudiced for having to prepare and produce Dr. Pittman for deposition when all of the relevant information has either been obtained or will be obtained from Defendant’s other executives and leadership. As such, Plaintiff’s notice of deposition should be quashed and a protective order should be entered barring such deposition of Dr. Pittman.”
The filing claims that “the only involvement of Dr. Pittman in such non-renewal decision making was [that] Dr. Langrehr made the recommendation of the same to Dr. Pittman and Dr. Pittman sent a letter to Plaintiff that her contract was not being renewed pending board approval.” It goes on to claim that contract non-renewal had to be approved by the Board of Directors and was ultimately approved following Dr. Pittman’s letter to Bush-Munson.
“Other than signing a letter, Dr. Pittman played no role in terminating Plaintiff’s employment,” the filing states.
Bill Hubble, meanwhile, had a formal retirement celebration on Friday, Aug. 29. Hubble had notified the college of his decision to retire on May 27 of this year, according to HR documents filed as a part of the college’s June 26 Board of Trustees meeting.
According to the Aug. 19 filing, Hubble was formally deposed on Aug. 13. The details of his deposition are unknown.
Dr. Andrew Langrehr was deposed on June 24. Some details of Langrehr’s deposition are a part of this filing. Langrehr was involved in the decision making of placing Bush Munson on paid leave and the deactivation of her program as well.
According to the Aug. 19 filing, during the deposition, “Dr. Langrehr testified that he received communications from Human Resources, Dean Hubble, and Dean Hubble’s direct supervisor and Forest Park campus president, Dr. Julie Fickas to place Plaintiff on paid leave.”
Langrehr claims that upon receiving such information, he then sent his recommendation for such placement to Defendant’s Chancellor Pittman for his signature.
As it relates to the decision to deactivate the Dental Assisting Program, the filing claims that this was determined by the college’s academic affairs leadership team based on objective metrics such as enrollment, costs and job growth. The filing claims that Dr. Langrehr is a member of that team and Chancellor Pittman is not.
A transcript of Langrehr’s deposition exists, but The Montage has been unable to obtain it as of press time, as it is considered “Exhibit A” in the case.
The deposition of Forest Park’s campus president, Dr. Julie Fickas, has not taken place as of press time. A hearing to determine whether Pittman’s deposition will be “quashed” before it takes place is set to be held on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 9:00am, just after this issue heads to press. An update will be posted to the online version of this story following the verdict of the ruling.
When asked to comment on the ongoing proceedings, STLCC General Counsel Amy Clendennen simply said “We cannot comment on pending litigation.”
The college is represented by Timothy Reichardt and Kyle Westbrook of Reichardt Noce & Young LLC. Bush-Munson is represented by Jonathan Charles Berns of Dobson, Berns & Rich, LLP. Berns declined to provide a comment regarding the matter before press time, but said he would be open to doing so after Wednesday’s hearing.
In an update to our print story, The Montage also discovered following its press deadline that Berns also filed a response to the motion to quash on Friday, Aug. 29.
