April Marciszewski, The Tulsa World, October 27, 2007
Attorneys for Oral Roberts University, President Richard Roberts and three other administrators alleged Friday in court filings that three former ORU professors are trying their lawsuit in the media.
ORU and the administrators said in their legal motion that publicity allegedly manipulated by the professors and their attorneys could lower the possibility of a fair trial. They want the professors and their attorneys barred from talking about the case outside of court.
The court filings Friday were the first made by ORU and the administrators since the professors sued them Oct. 2 for allegedly wrongfully firing them or forcing them to resign.
“Plaintiffs and their counsel are abusing the judicial process by using it as a basis for press conferences and publicity,” the motion states. “. . . The barrage of news coverage is especially damaging” because the professors and their attorneys have included unsubstantiated, detailed allegations of misconduct with their lawsuit “when even plaintiffs admit they do not know if those statements are true.”
The motion refers to a report allegedly compiled by Roberts’ sister-in-law, Stephanie Cantees, that Roberts has said consists of false rumors. The professors claim they were fired or forced to resign because they turned over the report to ORU’s board of regents.