The stack of lawsuits filed against New Mexico Highlands University keeps getting taller.
Paul Grindstaff, Highlands’ former vice president for advancement and university relations who also served as executive director of the NMHU Foundation, has accused the state-owned school in Las Vegas, N.M., of retaliating against him after he alerted university officials about unsafe athletic facilities and equipment.
In a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Grindstaff alleges Highlands’ regents fired him for whistleblowing and made false accusations against him in a letter sent May 27 to the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor. In addition to containing inaccuracies, his complaint states, the letter “embedded [Grindstaff] in a sweeping narrative of fraud, misconduct, and criminal conduct.”
Grindstaff seeks double back pay with interest, reinstatement, compensation for harm to his reputation, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses and other damages.
“The Whistleblower Protection Act exists for exactly this case,” Tim White, an attorney representing Grindstaff, said in a statement. “Dr. Grindstaff raised documented safety hazards that were injuring student-athletes at a public university. Weeks later he was fired without a stated reason, and then he was accused of a crime that his accusers’ own records disprove.”
Highlands General Counsel Doajo Hicks disputed several of the allegations in the lawsuit, particularly Grindstaff’s claims that the university retaliated against...
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