A judge reversed his earlier decision this month, ruling in favor of California Lutheran University in one phase of the lawsuit filed against the school by former U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly and his wife Janice.
The Galleglys sued CLU in 2021 for failing to comply with what the couple said was an agreement to fully establish the Gallegly Center for Public Service and Civic Engagement on the Thousand Oaks campus.
When the Simi Valley Republican retired from Congress in 2012, he donated his papers to CLU, and the university established a series of guest speakers and a scholarship program in his name. The university also placed a replica of its congressional office in the library.
The Gallegly Center Archives and Collection at CLU’s Pearson Library.
The university removed the replica office after a few years. The grants have not been awarded since the 2021-2022 school year and the speaker series ended in 2018 after one guest.
Gallegly is suing the university for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, unfair business practices and other claims. The case has been slowly moving towards the courts for more than three years and will likely go before a jury sometime in 2025.
In September, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Henry Walsh issued a “statement of intent” indicating he would rule in favor of the Gallegys on whether they had an enforceable contract with the university to maintain the replica office.
CLU appealed that preliminary decision and on December 13, Walsh issued his final ruling. In a three-page ruling, the judge reversed course and called his initial ruling “incorrect.” He said CLU was correct in arguing that this stage of the trial should only address whether the parties had established a charitable trust.
In his final decision, Walsh wrote that the written and oral communications between the Galleglys and CLU did not meet the legal standard for establishing a trust.
The Galleglys and CLU jointly announced that they would not comment on the judge’s decision.
The remainder of the trial will likely be decided by a jury. The next hearing, scheduled for Jan. 25, is a conference in which the judge and attorneys will discuss the schedule for transitioning to a jury trial.
Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Fund to Support Local Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Judge reverses course, rules for CLU in one phase of Gallegly suit
