Judge declines to rule in former UI official's lawsuit

Attorneys for the two sides in a lawsuit filed against the University of Iowa by a former vice president should work together to informally resolve several issues raised by the plaintiff's counsel, a Johnson County judge ruled Wednesday.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Marsha Bergan in her ruling said the discovery controversies raised by two motions filed by Phillip Jones' attorneys presently “are not ripe for ruling by the Court.” Bergan instead said the two sides should meet in good faith to resolve the issues without court intervention.

The two motions have to do with more information Jones' attorneys want from the UI and President Sally Mason. The motion says Mason did not fully answer to their satisfaction six of seven requests for information. They called the answers “inappropriate and unresponsive.”

But attorneys for the UI and Mason say the requests for information were “poorly crafted” and the responses were suitable.

Judge Bergan wants the two sides to meet  to resolve the issues. Both parties have been filing motions and responses for several months. A trial date is Jones' wrongful termination lawsuit against the UI is set for Jan. 10, 2011.

Jones contends he was wrongfully fired and the UI did not follow due process. Mason fired Jones and another administrator in September 2008 after a sexual assault scandal involving student athletes.