SEATTLE — Seattle Pacific University's policy against hiring people in same-sex relationships is not only discriminatory, it is causing the institution to implode, according to 16 students, faculty and staff who filed a lawsuit against trustees of the Christian school on Monday.
SPU is on course to run a $10 million deficit, student enrollment is dropping, and faculty and staff are leaving in droves, according to the 56-page complaint filed in King County Superior Court on the same day that a new school year began. The lawsuit accuses six current and former trustees, including interim SPU President Pete Menjares, of breach of fiduciary duty, among other allegations. It seeks the appointment of a new president and board.
"This case is about accountability," the complaint said, naming trustees it alleges were members of a "rogue" board within a board that pushed "a discriminatory hiring policy that undermined, and has torn apart, the heart and soul of SPU."
