KSU settles discrimination, retribution lawsuit with former police chief – WBNews

Kentucky State University avoided a trial and settled a lawsuit with former campus Police Chief Stephanie Bastin for an undisclosed amount of money. Bastin filed a lawsuit against the university’s Board of Regents three years ago for alleged racial discrimination and whistleblowing retaliation when they terminated her in 2013. The case was set for trial Monday, but according to KSU attorney William Johnson, the parties settled out of court. Johnson wouldn’t disclose the details of the settlement, but he said they would be worked on in the next 30 days. Bastin had also filed lawsuits against former KSU President Mary Sias and Lorenzo Esters, vice president of student success and enrollment management. Those suits were dismissed last month. Court depositions indicated Bastin had a strained relationship with Esters. According to her deposition, Bastin said Esters denied a budget request for new police vehicles, and despite a shortage of campus police officers, she had concerns that Esters wouldn’t allow her to hire a candidate for a campus police position because he was white. In his own deposition, Esters denied the discrimination charge, saying he wanted a more diverse pool of campus police candidates and there were other candidates he knew of whom Bastin didn’t consider. Citing her frustrations with Esters to KSU Human Resources Director Gary Meiseles, Bastin filed grievances against Esters on the same day her employment was terminated. Meiseles’ deposition included that he was aware of Bastin’s concerns but that the decision to fire her came weeks before she…more detail