No trial date has been set yet in the federal lawsuit involving ex-Westfield State University president Evan Dobelle. Dobelle is the former president of Trinity College in Hartford.
In the 2013 federal complaint, filed three weeks before he resigned, Dobelle alleges that his constitutional and contractual rights were violated when he was placed on administrative leave and forced to resign from his post as president of WSU.
Dobelle resigned amid an investigation into his spending practices by the Massachusetts Inspector General. The probe found that Dobelle had used university credit cards for personal purchases, spent extravagantly on personal travel, and made misleading statements about how the money was spent.
In addition to the federal case, there are two additional lawsuits in the Massachusetts state court. One, by Dobelle against WSU alleges breach of contract, and another by the previous Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in an attempt to recover nearly 100,000 dollars in allegedly misused funds.
Dobelle was president of Trinity College in Hartford from 1995 to 2001.
