Witnesses take stand in CLU case

A pre-jury trial hearing in the case of a former member of Congress against Cal Lutheran University will continue into next month with a Ventura County Superior Court judge declining the school’s Aug. 2 request that he make a ruling at the completion of the plaintiff’s case.

Judge Henry Walsh said he would make a decision in September after hearing Cal Lutheran’s witnesses, who took the stand this week.

In November 2021, Elton Gallegly sued the Thousand Oaks institution for breach of contract and other causes of action regarding the Elton and Janice Gallegly Center for Public Service and Civic Engagement.

The retired U.S. representative claims the school violated agreements by removing a replica of his D.C. office from campus and failing to digitize his 26 years of congressional papers.

With the case currently in a declaratory relief stage, the judge will determine the rights of the parties before a jury trial begins for the breach of contract case.

At question currently is whether oral amendments to the two written contracts between Elton Gallegly and CLU will uphold in court.

Walsh’s decision came after the Galleglys’ attorney called a dozen witnesses, including the former Congress member, his wife, Janice Gallegly, and the two most recent previous university presidents.

“I can’t help but opine that it’s sad that we’re even here,” Walsh said.

“This was a good idea and now it’s blown up, probably never to be recreated.”

Written agreements

In January 2013, Stephen Wheatley, then CLU’s vice president for advancement, entered into an agreement with Elton Gallegly to establish the Elton and Janice Gallegly Center for Public Service and Civic Engagement.

The center had four components— the building with the replica office, the archives, the fellowship program and the speaker series—all of which, CLU past president Chris Kimball said, were dependent on fundraising.

The document states Gallegly would deposit—not gift—his office furniture and papers with the university and that “CLU will arrange, preserve and catalog said papers and related materials according to generally accepted principles of archival administration and practice.”

It also states Elton Gallegly would join CLU in seeking donations of not less than $3 million as an endowment to fund the operations of the Gallegly Center.

In an October 2017 gift agreement, Gallegly signed ownership of the papers to the school, which was needed in order for CLU to apply for an archiving grant.

Kimball said the Galleglys led him to believe that their campaign donors would happily provide a rapid influx of funds for the center, but in reality, interest was low.

“Nothing materialized close to what had been expected,” he testified.

The $3 million endowment was never raised, Kimball said during cross-examination, but despite not having the necessary funds, the university opened the center and hosted one speaker event in May 2018, fronted money for the fellowships through 2022 and opened archives of the physical papers in May 2023.

Raising the money

Elton Gallegly said he and his wife were hesitant about likely having to fundraise for the center, but Kimball told them they wouldn’t have to.

“You’ll never have to ask anybody for a dollar and we’ll never ask you for one” Gallegly said the then-president told the couple.

“We are a faith-based university and you can trust us,” he reported the former president as saying.

Contrary to Kimball’s testimony, Elton

Gallegly said he provided the school with the contact information for his top campaign donors.

As well, Gallegly testified he donated leftover campaign money toward the construction of the center as well as to fund its various programs. He and his wife of 50 years, who also served as his campaign manager and treasurer, spent thousands in personal funds to entertain potential donors, the Galleglys said.

“We worked very, very hard for CLU. It was a nonstop thing. You don’t do anything halfway when Elton and I get together; we put our heart and soul into the whole thing,” Janice Gallegly said. “And we were very hurt by the roadblocks we were getting.”

Subversion

The school’s lawyers, however, implied the couple took actions to hurt fundraising efforts.

Armed with exhibits of emails, Cal Lutheran attorney Daniel Janssen accused the Galleglys of encouraging the Reagan Library to break its affiliation with CLU; asking the California attorney general to investigate the university for embezzlement; urging donors to file complaints against CLU with the AG’s office; and ghostwriting negative letters to newspapers about Cal Lutheran.

During cross-examination, Janice Gallegly denied orchestrating a media campaign to disparage CLU. She did not discourage anyone from submitting letters to the editor, however, because she wanted to raise awareness about the situation and encourage Lori Varlotta, whose term as CLU president followed Kimballs’, to settle the lawsuit, she said.

The letters, she testified, were published after Varlotta submitted an opinion piece discussing the lawsuit to the Pacific Coast Business Times in December 2021.

“It would have been easier for CLU to fundraise had they not dismantled the entire center and fired an advisory board full of notable people in the community,” Janice Gallegly said after Janssen suggested her actions made it more difficult for CLU to raise money for the center.

New leadership

The dismantling came under Varlotta. When she met the Galleglys in November 2020, it was clear their top priority was archiving the papers, she told the Galleglys’ attorney, Charles Slyngstad.

“If we can get these materials archived it would be a win-win-win: a win for the Galleglys, a win for the students and faculty who want to use it for their research, and, frankly, a win for me as the new president,” Varlotta remembered thinking.

Varlotta, along with administrators, legal counsel and regents, opted to dismantle the replica office in January 2022.

She said she did not consult the Galleglys beforehand because the center only had space for either the replica office or the archives. The papers were never digitized, Varlotta said. They are, however, archived according to the terms of the contracts, she said.

The Galleglys, however, maintain there was an agreement to digitize the collection.

Motion denied

After the plaintiffs rested their case Aug. 2, Cal Lutheran’s attorneys requested that the judge make a ruling.

Janssen said there is no evidence that the university was contractually obligated to verbal changes to the written documents; even if the university were obligated, such responsibilities would be dependent on sufficient donations, which there were not.

“There is nothing that the plaintiff has proven by clear and convincing evidence that would suggest additional terms that bind CLU under these contracts,” he said.

Slyngstad said the actions of the university and the Galleglys demonstrated that they both abided by the terms of an oral contract until the couple felt the need to file a lawsuit.

The judge says he plans to make a ruling in September after hearing from the university’s witnesses.