Ex-Eastern Michigan University President Sues Board of Regents over Firing

By Aaron Poehler

Published on October 12, 2007

Fallon was fired in the wake of the rape and murder of 22-year-old Laura Dickinson, an EMU student whose body was discovered in mid-December 2006 in her EMU dorm room. Although a fellow EMU student was arrested and charged with her death 10 weeks after the murder, EMU officials did not report Dickinson's death as having been the result of a violent campus crime until the morning her accused attacker was arrested, a violation of federal crime reporting law. Fallon has stated he was unaware Dickinson's death was being investigated as a murder until the day the suspect was arrested.

The suit alleges that the EMU board violated Fallon's rights under the Michigan Whistleblowers Protection Act by dismissing him in order to prevent him from making statements that might prove harmful to the university. Additionally, Fallon alleges that the board meetings leading to his dismissal were conducted by phone and email, and thus violated Michigan’s Open Meetings Act, which requires that official business be conducted in a public forum.

Fallon's suit requests his reinstatement as EMU president with full benefits, along with payment of back wages, attorney and witness fees, and other damages deemed appropriate by the court.