KIRKWOOD, Mo. _ The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which is retrenching as it loses membership nationwide, has been named in a lawsuit alleging fraud and other claims stemming from the latest closing of an affiliated university.
HotChalk Inc., a California-based firm that helped Concordia University-Portland develop and support online degree programs, alleges more than $302 million in damages, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Oregon state court. The Concordia University System and Missouri Synod, both based here, and the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, of nearby Sunset Hills, were also named as defendants.
Concordia University-Portland, which dated to 1905, closed in February, surprising HotChalk. The firm alleges that it was kept in the dark about the abrupt chain of events, including "eleventh-hour giveaways" to divert assets from unsecured creditors.
