On today’s show, my colleague Rachel Keith joins me to talk about the depositions in Ray Funderburk’s lawsuit against Cape Fear Community College. The lawsuit began three years ago, after a majority of trustees voted to kick Funderburk off the college board, for reasons we’ll get into today. Last month, it settled.
If the suit had gone to trial, we would have seen testimony from key members of the college leadership — trustees and top administrators who have, for years, declined to go on the record or to answer questions substantively.
Importantly, that testimony would have pierced the veil of personnel and confidentiality, not just regarding Funderburk’s removal, but also broader issues and questions regarding the college’s management. As we’ve seen in other lawsuits, like the Crime Lab suit and the more recent federal discrimination case against the City of Wilmington, there can be discussion of how things really work, behind the scenes, that journalists and the public are rarely privy to.
Often, when a case is settled, that opportunity is foreclosed. That includes depositions, sworn testimony given in response to questions from attorneys as part of the preparation for a potential trial — which don’t often become public when a lawsuit is resolved out of court.
But in this case, WHQR has acquired depositions from the lawsuit, which have given us new insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the case — but also the operations and attitudes of CFCC leadership.
Selected links:
- Ray Funderburk on his CFCC settlement; UNCW's Mouhcine Guettabi on the economics of a toll bridge (The Newsroom)
- Three strikes and you're out: The short tenure of CFCC Trustee Ray Funderburk (The Newsroom)
- The Trial of Ray Funderburk
- CFCC President Morton's salary has increased at nearly fourfold the rate of faculty pay
- The Newsroom: A long, hard look at Cape Fear Community College (The Newsroom)
- The toxic workplace allegations against CFCC
- WECT's investigative report: Top executives at CFCC say President Morton has created toxic culture
You can also find an omnibus link to Rachel Keith's reporting on CFCC here.
