IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A lawsuit accuses five members of the Board of Regents of meeting illegally with Bruce Harreld last summer before hiring him as University of Iowa president.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday, June 1, 2016 by a retired university administrator alleges the regents violated the Iowa Open Meetings Act. It asks a judge to void Harreld’s hiring, to award damages and to enter an injunction punishing regents with civil contempt for future violations.
The board says there was no violation because a majority of nine regents didn’t meet Harreld at once.
Harreld met with four regents on July 30 at Summit Agricultural Group in Ames, the business owned by Board President Bruce Rastetter.
Rastetter has said he didn’t attend the meetings. Harreld has said he requested the meetings to learn more about the job.
