JEFFERSON CIRCUIT COURT
DIVISION NO. _______
JUDGE ___________________
Filed Electronically

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE &
THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE FOUNDATION, INC.

PLAINTIFFS

v.
JAMES R. RAMSEY, KATHLEEN SMITH, BURT DEUTSCH,
MICHAEL CURTIN, JASON TOMLINSON, AND
STITES & HARBISON, PLLC,
Serve:
James R. Ramsey
8902 Adrienne Ct.
Louisville, KY 40245
Kathleen Smith
3604 Hillcreek Rd.
Louisville, KY 40220
Burt Deutsch
2017 Lowell Ave.
Louisville, KY 40205
Michael Curtin
600 NW 104th Terrace
Kansas City, MO 64154
Jason Tomlinson
908 Willow Pointe Dr.
Louisville, KY 40208
Stites & Harbison, PLLC
c/o S&H Louisville, LLC
400 W. Market St., Ste. 1800
Louisville, KY 40202-3352

*******

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DEFENDANTS

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CIVIL ACTION NO. _______________

 Plaintiffs the University of Louisville (the “University”) and the University of Louisville
Foundation, Inc. (the “Foundation,” and collectively, “Plaintiffs”) respectfully bring the
following Complaint against Defendants James R. Ramsey (“Ramsey”), Kathleen Smith
(“Smith”), Burt

Deutsch (“Deutsch”),

Michael Curtin (“Curtin”), Jason Tomlinson

(“Tomlinson”), and Stites & Harbison, PLLC (“Stites”). In support of this Complaint, Plaintiffs
state as follows:
THE PARTIES
1.

Plaintiff the University is a public university in Jefferson County, Kentucky. It is

a member of the Kentucky state university system.
2.

Plaintiff the Foundation is a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of

Kentucky with its principal place of business in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The Foundation
works exclusively for the charitable and educational purposes of the University. The Foundation,
holds, invests, and designates the University’s endowment (the “Endowment”).
3.

Upon information and belief, Defendant Ramsey is an adult resident of Jefferson

County, Kentucky. During times relevant to this Complaint, Ramsey was, among other things,
the president of both the University and the Foundation.
4.

Upon information and belief, Defendant Smith is an adult resident of Jefferson

County, Kentucky. During times relevant to this Complaint, Smith was, among other things,
Ramsey’s chief of staff and the assistant secretary for both the University and the Foundation.
5.

Upon information and belief, Defendant Deutsch is an adult resident of Jefferson

County, Kentucky. During times relevant to this Complaint, Deutsch was, among other things, a

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COMPLAINT WITH JURY TRIAL DEMAND

 consultant paid by the Foundation.
6.

Upon information and belief, Defendant Curtin is an adult individual and

Missouri citizen. During times relevant to this Complaint, Curtin was, among other things, the
Foundation’s assistant treasurer.
7.

Upon information and belief, Defendant Tomlinson is an adult resident of

Jefferson County, Kentucky. During times relevant to this Complaint, Tomlinson was, among
other things, the Foundation’s assistant treasurer (he succeeded Curtin in that position).
8.

Defendant Stites is a limited liability company organized under the laws of

Kentucky with its principal place of business in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Stites served as the
University and Foundation’s law firm regarding many of the transactions complained of herein.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
9.

This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action pursuant to KRS

§ 23A.010(1).
10.

Venue is proper as to all Defendants because many of the acts and omissions

complained of herein occurred in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
Background
11.

The Defendants knowingly caused the Foundation to spend Endowment funds at

an excessive and unsustainable rate.
12.

The Defendants took Endowment money that should have been invested and

diverted it to speculative ventures, loans, and gifts that had little realistic chance of repayment.

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member of the Foundation’s board of directors and executive committee. Deutsch was also a

 The Defendants depleted the Endowment through intentionally complicated—and

often unauthorized—transactions.
14.

While engaged in this disloyal conduct, Ramsey and Smith paid themselves (and

others) excessive compensation out of the Foundation.
15.

The Defendants disguised these transactions to avoid scrutiny and circumvent the

Foundation’s approved spending limit and annual budget.
16.

The Defendants’ bad faith actions and other wrongful conduct caused the

Endowment to lose millions of dollars.
17.

The Defendants worked individually and collectively to commit the bad acts

described herein.

Plaintiffs reserve the right to amend this complaint if additional co-

conspirators are later discovered.
The Spending Limit
18.

Per the University of Louisville Endowment Fund Statement of Investment

Objectives and Guidelines (the “Investment Policy”), the Foundation must not spend more than it
makes. As the Foundation’s investment advisor Cambridge Associates, LLC (“Cambridge”) put
it, “you [the Foundation] have to ‘earn what you spend’ whether it be from investment returns,
from gifts, or a combination thereof.”
19.

This rule enables the Endowment corpus to grow each year so that it may fund the

University’s mission in perpetuity. While the Foundation serves the University and should spend
money to aid and promote the University, it must do so while saving and investing enough to
sustain the Endowment.
20.

In the Foundation’s case, the spending policy allocation was calculated as a

percentage of certain assets comprising the “Endowment Pool.” This percentage was assessed

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 rolling value by averaging the Pool’s value for each of the three preceding years. In or around
2011, in an attempt to increase spending, the Foundation modified this formula by averaging the
two highest of the last three years’ values.
21.

In 2008, the Foundation increased its total spending policy to 7.48% of the

Endowment Pool, apportioned as follows: (1) 5.5% to University departments; and (2) 1.98% to
business operations and administrative overhead.
22.

In 2012, Cambridge provided Deutsch (who was then the Vice Chair of the

Foundation’s Board and the Chair of its Finance Committee) an analysis and recommendation
(the “Cambridge Memo”) regarding the Foundation’s 7.48% spending policy, which was
“among the highest” in the nation. To put this in context, the average university spending rate at
the time was around 4.3%.
23.

Cambridge’s conclusion was clear and strongly-worded:

[W]e believe it is incumbent on us as your investment advisors to lay bare in the
plainest terms that the current level of net draws (i.e., spending minus
endowment gifts) is likely unsustainable . . . we strongly advise adjusting the
spending policy.
24.

Accordingly, Cambridge recommended that the Foundation (1) reduce its

spending rate from 7.48% to 5.5% (which Cambridge noted “was still at the high end of what
endowments generally spend”); (2) that the Foundation “no longer adjust the three year rolling
average by dropping the lowest year”; and (3) that the Foundation “no longer include the unspent
portion of spending policy from years past in the current spending policy calculation.”
25.

According to the minutes, the Finance Committee did not reevaluate the

Foundation’s spending rate in light of the Cambridge Memo until July 2013—approximately
eight months later.
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against the Endowment Pool’s rolling market value. Originally, the Foundation calculated this

 At that meeting (which was presided over by Deutsch as the Chair), the Finance

Committee only accepted Cambridge’s third recommendation (i.e., to exclude the unspent
portion of the spending allocation). Despite officially adopting the recommendation, the
Defendants caused the Foundation to continue including the unspent carryover in future budgets.
Thus, the Defendants—without authority—caused the Foundation to spend millions more than it
should have.
27.

The Finance Committee rejected Cambridge’s second recommendation
ecommendation of

returning to a three-year rolling average, instead expressly resolving to continue dropping the
lowest year.
28.

More importantly, the minutes contain no record of the Finance Committee or

Deutsch discussing Cambridge’s first and strongest recommendation—to reduce the 7.48%
spending rate to 5.5%. It appears Deutsch, as Chair of Finance Committee, failed to even
consider this recommendation or present it to the Finance Committee for consideration.
29.

At a minimum, Deutsch did not recommend reducing the spending rate. The

Foundation’s spending remained 7.48% until 2016.
30.

Deutsch knew, however, that the Foundation was required to spend less than it

earned. The Investment Policy mandates that the “corpus of the Fund” must “keep pace with
inflation” in order to “provide future generations with the same relative level of support currently
enjoyed by the Fund’s beneficiaries.”
31.

Deutsch also knew the Foundation was violating this central tenant. The

Cambridge Memo described the spending rate as “unsustainable.” Documentation from that time
period corroborates Cambridge’s critique and proves the Foundation was spending more than it
made.

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26.

 The other Defendants were also aware of this unsustainable spending. For

example, in March 2013, Curtin admitted that cash outflows had greatly exceeded cash inflows
to the Endowment over the previous five years.
33.

To make matters worse, the Foundation actually spent more than the already-

excessive, authorized 7.48% spending rate. The Defendants did this by using accounting tricks
to inflate the Endowment Pool’s value (on which the 7.48% was assessed). The Defendants (in
particular, the former assistant treasurers, Curtin and Tomlinson) caused the Foundation (1) to
recategorize expenditures as valuable Endowment Pool investments; and (2) to record fictitious
returns on certain alleged investments. Tomlinson later admitted that the purpose of this scheme
was to generate a higher spending policy allocation.
34.

Deutsch was instrumental in re-categorizing certain expenditures as investments.

However, he did critique the second scheme of recording nonexistent returns.
35.

Despite this critique, Deutsch did little to stop this tactic and the Foundation

continued to record fictitious returns for years afterwards.
36.

These techniques artificially inflated the Endowment Pool’s value by

approximately $70 million in some years (thus inflating the spending allocation by millions).
The UHI Line of Credit
37.

Ramsey, with the assistance of the other Defendants, caused the Foundation to

transfer at least $55.7 million to University Holdings, Inc. (“UHI”),1 which in turn made loans to
certain Foundation subsidiaries, including (1) Nucleus Kentucky’s Life Sciences and Innovation
Center, LLC (“Nucleus”); (2) MetaCyte Business Lab, LLC (“MetaCyte”); (3) University of
Louisville Development Corporation, LLC (“ULDC”); and (4) KYT-Louisville, LLC (“KYT”).

1

Ramsey was also a UHI director along with Deutsch.

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32.

 The Foundation transferred this money through a line of credit (the “UHI line of

credit”), which was supposed to bear interest at 3.5%.
39.

Nucleus, MetaCyte, ULDC, and KYT used the money they received via the UHI

line of credit to fund their operations, which are as follows:
a. Nucleus operates and maintains a research park in downtown Louisville;
b. MetaCyte assists in creating and growing life science companies created from
intellectual property licensed from the University;
c. ULDC develops and manages real estate operations at the University’s
ShelbyHurst campus; and
d. KYT manages the purchase and development of real estate proximate to the
University’s Belknap Campus.
40.

The Foundation’s loans to these subsidiaries (via UHI) resulted in substantial

losses. To date, UHI (and, consequently, the Foundation) has received a total of approximately
$3,819,000 from Nucleus, MetaCyte, ULDC, and KYT—who collectively owed at least $55.7
million plus interest.
41.

As an initial matter, Ramsey should never have made any of these “investments”

via the UHI line of credit because none of them satisfied the Investment Policy’s requirements.
42.

The Investment Policy mandates, among other things, that the Endowment

generate “annual real investment returns” to achieve an absolute “minimum net total return
which is equal to the University’s spending rate [7.48%] plus the inflation rate [approximately
2% on average].” Accordingly, the Foundation’s investments were required to generate a
minimum, annual return of approximately 9.5%. Further, the Investment Policy requires that any
real estate or private equity investments exceed the benchmarks set by the UBS Global Real
Estate Investors Index and the Russell 3000 +5% Index, respectively. Any Foundation

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38.

 risk.”
43.

The terms of the UHI line of credit violated the Investment Policy. The UHI line

of credit loaned money at the prime rate of interest, or 3.5%, well short of the relevant
benchmarks required by the Investment Policy. Further, the Defendants failed to evaluate how
the UHI line of credit’s potential 3.5% return would help the Foundation’s portfolio generate the
required 9.5% overall return.
44.

More importantly, the Foundation’s loans via the UHI line of credit involved

substantial risk. The line of credit’s repayment was largely contingent upon the highlyspeculative generation of TIF proceeds. Tomlinson knew that capital markets refused to issue
bonds or debt backed by TIF proceeds because of the inherent risk and unpredictability. Despite
knowing this risk, the Defendants failed to obtain (let alone review) a forecast of expected TIF
proceeds.
45.

Put simply, Ramsey, without performing proper due diligence, caused the

Foundation to make over $55 million worth of incredibly risky loans via the UHI line of credit
that would return, at best, 3.5% to the Foundation.
46.

These inappropriate expenditures were also unauthorized. The Foundation only

authorized Ramsey to make the $35 million of investments via UHI—not expenditures.
47.

However, much of the money transferred through the line of credit was for

expenditures. For example, Ramsey transferred $262,078 to fund UHI’s operating expenses.
This expenditure could not have been an investment because UHI generates no independent
income from which it could repay a loan. Had Ramsey intended to properly fund UHI’s salaries,

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investments must satisfy these requirements “without the assumption of excessive investment

 budget—as the Foundation did in other, similar instances.
48.

UHI’s W-2s reflect that it paid salaries to Smith and Tomlinson (among others).

This is problematic because both Tomlinson and Smith are implicated in the misconduct
surrounding the UHI line of credit.
49.

Smith schemed with Stites to obfuscate the UHI compensation. For example, in a

September 2013 email, Smith wrote to David Saffer (“Saffer”), a Stites attorney, “We need to
protect UHI . . . I would like to make the paper trail to our holdings as obscure as possible . . .
please think about how we can move our LLCs into something more obscure that would be
difficult to find through ORRs [open records requests].”
50.

Tomlinson, as the Foundation’s assistant treasurer, improperly recorded the UHI

line of credit as a return-generating asset.
51.

Even if the UHI line of credit had been used to fund investments (as opposed to

expenditures), Ramsey still exceeded his authority by causing the Foundation to loan at least
$55.7 million to UHI—approximately $20.7 million more than was authorized.
52.

Curtin and Tomlinson assisted with this egregious and unauthorized misspending

by signing many of the documents effectuating the UHI line of credit despite knowing that the
Foundation was spending more than was authorized.
53.

Ramsey knew he could not spend endowment money on certain projects—the

Foundation budget lacked available funds to do so. Thus, to avoid detection or scrutiny, the
Defendants caused the Foundation to fraudulently record the UHI line of credit as an investment
generating fictitious returns—while knowing it was truly an expenditure. This creative

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he should have requested that the Foundation include a corresponding expenditure in its annual

 (or compensation) they desired.
54.

The Defendants worked together to design the scheme that recategorized these

expenditures as investments at Ramsey’s insistence.
55.

In fact, Deutsch subsequently conceded the Foundation was “recategorizing [its]

investments” with the help of Stites and Saffer:
The way we have been able to spend Foundation funds for the vast majority
of these expenditures is to make them as investments of Foundation funds . . . I
would like for Dave Saffer [a Stites attorney] to meet with us. He has done some
work for me on recategorizing our investments that I would like to discuss.
56.

Ramsey insisted that the UHI line of credit was an investment “just like GM or

Ford stock” that did not need to be repaid. In reality, the UHI line of credit was not a stock—it
was a risky loan that would at best reap a paltry return if it were repaid at all.
57.

The Defendants simply recategorized expenditures as “investments” in order to

avoid the repercussions associated with overspending. If the UHI line of credit were properly
recorded, the hit to the Endowment would reduce future spending (and affect compensation).
58.

Ramsey and his co-defendants failed to analyze the UHI line of credit’s expected

return because they didn’t truthfully view it as an investment. They caused it to be reported as an
asset generating fictitious returns because they had to disguise it as a performing investment in
order to avoid violating the spending policy—as well as inflate the next year’s spending
allocation.
The JGBCC Grant
59.

In March 2011, Ramsey promised the James Graham Brown Cancer Center

(“JGBCC” or “Cancer Center”) $10,000,000 of support from the Foundation.

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accounting allowed the Defendants to circumvent the spending limit and fund whatever projects

 While the Foundation allocated a small amount to the Cancer Center in its annual

budgets, the Foundation did not authorize this donation.
61.

At the time Ramsey promised the Cancer Center the $10,000,000 donation, he

knew there was little chance that the Foundation would ever be repaid.
62.

Because it was an unauthorized expenditure, Ramsey’s team took steps to keep

the circle who knew about this funding small, referring to it as “strictly an Office of the President
initiative.”
63.

The inner circle funneled the money from the Foundation to the JGBCC through a

complicated series of transactions. The Defendants came up with the plan to channel the money
through several entities and disguise the transaction through misleading accounting entries.
64.

To that end, the Foundation issued a promissory note to UHI for $10 million. The

note carried interest at the floating prime interest rate.
65.

Despite knowing that the note would probably not be repaid, the Foundation

booked this note as a performing asset for the full value of the note and interest, nearly $11.2
million in all. This incorrect booking was done with the intent to disguise the unauthorized
spending.
66.

UHI issued a grant to the University of Louisville Research Foundation (“ULRF”)

with the same terms as the promissory note for the purpose of funding the Cancer Center.
Because the JGBCC Grant was not expected to be repaid, UHI did not record a receivable and
ULRF did not record a liability associated with the grant.
67.

The Cancer Center had no obligation to repay the $10 million unless it no longer

needed the money. All parties understood that the Cancer Center would never operate at a
sufficient surplus to trigger repayment of the grant.

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60.

 The grant could also be repaid to the extent of net proceeds received from a

“dilution event” as defined in the operating agreement of Advanced Cancer Therapeutics, LLC,
(“ACT”) a startup in which ULRF held a substantial equity position. It is unclear how a
“dilution event” could ever generate net proceeds sufficient to repay the grant.
69.

The inner circle knew the connection between ACT and the Cancer Center was

tenuous. More importantly, the JGBCC grant had no impact on the amount of money the
Foundation or ULRF would receive through a dilution event.
70.

Combined, the Foundation and Research Foundation owned approximately

37.16% of ACT. The Foundation received no additional shares in ACT or any other entity as a
result of the grant to the Cancer Center. Thus, if ACT had a dilution event, the Foundation
would receive the same amount of money it would have received had it not effectuated the
JGBCC Grant.
71.

Further, Ramsey and his team overestimated the amount of money a dilution

event would provide ULRF to repay the grant. The Research Foundation was required, under the
terms of the ACT Operating Agreement, to put at least 80% of any distribution received back
into cancer research.
72.

The $11.2 million remained as an asset included in the Endowment Pool until

2017 when it was written off. While the asset remained on the books, it artificially inflated the
value of the Endowment Pool. Because the spending limits were set as a percentage of the
Endowment Pool, this wrongful accounting entry allowed the Defendants to spend additional
funds which would not have been authorized if the value of the endowment pool was correctly
stated.

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68.

 73.

The Foundation established its deferred compensation plan in 2005.

74.

Through 2016, the Foundation paid out approximately $21.8 million in deferred

compensation, composed of around $8.4 million in vested contributions, $4.1 million in vested
earnings, and $9.2 million in tax gross-ups.
75.

Approximately $8.75 million of that total amount was paid to Ramsey and

another $2.6 million was paid to Smith. These amounts were in addition to Ramsey and Smith’s
base salaries as University and Foundation officers.
76.

Ramsey and Smith successfully insisted that deferred compensation expenses not

be included in the Foundation budget.
77.

Ramsey and Smith rationalized this exclusion by (1) intending to have the

Foundation pay deferred compensation through other income sources (e.g., current use gifts as
opposed to Endowment assets); and (2) having deferred compensation grants approved
separately by the Foundation Board or Executive Committee. These funds did not cover the
large deferred compensation payments at issue.
78.

In order to make up this deficit, the Defendants caused the Foundation to liquidate

Endowment assets to fund deferred compensation payments. However, because any such
Endowment expenditures were not approved as part of the budget, they were necessarily
unauthorized because they were above and beyond the approved 7.48% spending policy
allocation.
79.

Further, at least some deferred compensation payments were not properly

approved by the Foundation’s Board or Executive Committee.

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Excessive and Unauthorized Compensation

 For example, in December 2012, Ramsey began receiving deferred compensation

payments related to an alleged $1 million retention bonus. This bonus is not even discussed, let
alone approved, during any Foundation or University minutes from this time period.
81.

Crowe Horwath (“Crowe”) raised a concern that the $1 million retention bonus

was not included in Ramsey’s 2011 taxable income when it vested. Curtin dismissed Crowe’s
concerns and attempted to explain the discrepancy.
82.

Crowe insisted on seeing the minutes that authorized the bonus. No responsive

record was found.
83.

When Smith learned that people inside the Foundation were seeking minutes to

send Crowe, Smith responded in a fearful tone:
Please do not send these minutes to anyone without my knowing why. The
wall between the ULF, Minerva [the deferred compensation plan administrator],
and UofL is cracking because of unintended consequences. Please send me what
you sent her.
84.

The deferred compensation payments at issue were unreasonably excessive.

Ramsey and Smith were paid significantly more than officers of similar universities and
foundations.
85.

Ramsey and Smith’s compensation is particularly egregious given their wrongful

conduct, which they suppressed from the Foundation and University board members. In other
words, Ramsey and Smith were being excessively compensated from the Foundation while they
were simultaneously improperly and secretly depleting the Foundation’s assets. Accordingly, the
Foundation did not receive a reasonable return for the millions it paid to Ramsey and Smith.
Contrarily, the Foundation was substantially harmed by those individuals.

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80.

 86.

The Defendants’ wrongdoing is not limited to the above transactions, which only

constitute representative examples thereof. For example, the Defendants also caused the
Foundation to (1) invest (and lose) approximately $10 million in risky start-up companies; and
(2) knowingly purchase real estate for millions above the appraised value.
87.

Regarding the startups, the Foundation’s Executive Committee authorized

Ramsey “to cause the Foundation make investments in new ventures identified by the President
from time to time . . . in an amount not to exceed $10,000,000.00.”
88.

Ramsey exceeded this authority by, among other things, loaning the full $10

million to certain startups, but then providing those startups additional benefits at great risk to the
Foundation. For example, Ramsey caused the Foundation to guarantee certain debts the startups
owed. These guarantees caused (or likely will cause) substantial losses to the Foundation.
89.

Setting aside authorization issues, the Defendants nevertheless caused the

Foundation to invest approximately $10 million in risky start-up companies without proper due
diligence or consideration for the Foundation’s best interests.
90.

For example, the Defendants caused the Foundation to transfer $300,000 to PGxL

without even receiving equity in return.
91.

PGxL subsequently filed bankruptcy and the Foundation lost over $900,000.

92.

The Defendants also had conflicts of interest regarding at least some of the startup

companies. For example, Curtin was a director of Apovax/AppoImminue, one of the startups at
issue.

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Other Transactions at Issue

 When the University Compliance Department raised issues about potential

conflicts, the Defendants offhandedly dismissed them. Smith referred to that department as the
“compliance gestapo.”
94.

Regarding the real estate transactions, the Defendants caused the Foundation to

pay approximately $10.3 million above the appraised values for certain properties.
95.

The most egregious of these real estate transactions was the Foundation’s

purchase of property located at 2601 South Third St., Louisville, KY 40208 (the “KYTLouisville Property”).
96.

Ramsey, Deutsch, and Curtin signed the documents relating to the Foundation’s

purchase of the KYT-Louisville Property.
97.

The Foundation obtained an appraisal of this property around October 2007 for

$13,600,000. Despite this appraisal, the Foundation subsequently purchased the KYT-Louisville
Property a few months later for $19,500,000—almost $6 million above the appraised value.
98.

The relevant minutes contain no explanation for why the Defendants caused the

Foundation to pay this inflated price.
Stites & Harbison
99.

The above-described breaches of duty were enabled by Stites.

100.

Stites designed the transactional mechanisms to make the paper trails as obscure

as possible to defeat open records requests. Stites made certain transactions appear to be loans or
grants when it knew that there was no realistic chance of repayment. Stites was instrumental in
the decision to book expenditures as investments or other performing assets.

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93.

 Stites aided and abetted Curtin, Deutsch, and Smith in funding Ramsey’s $10

million pledge to the JGBCC. Stites created the structure for the UHI line of credit to keep the
spending from being discovered.
102.

Stites also set up certain business entities with the express purpose of hiding

deferred compensation payments from the media. Stites also gave advice on ways to book the
authorization for compensation payments in such a way to frustrate open records requests.
103.

Stites knew, or should have known, that some of the larger deferred compensation

payments were not authorized by the Foundation board because its agents attended most board
meetings.
104.

While Stites owed a duty to the Foundation as a whole as its client, Stites

attorneys acted like they represented, Smith, Ramsey, and the inner circle alone. Stites would
intentionally restrict distribution lists to keep the wrongful acts from becoming known.
105.

Stites even concealed this information from its other client, the University.

CAUSES OF ACTION
COUNT ONE: BREACH OF THE KENTUCKY UNIFORM PRUDENT MANAGEMENT
OF INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS ACT
(Against Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson)
106.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
107.

The Foundation manages and invests institutional funds, and is therefore

governed, in part, by the Kentucky Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (the
“KUPMIFA”).
108.

In fact, the Foundation’s website states, in pertinent part:

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101.

 109.

The KUPMIFA imposes fiduciary duties of care, loyalty,
ty, and good faith on those

managing and investing institutional funds:
In addition to complying with a duty of loyalty imposed
osed by law other than in KRS
273.600 to 273.645, each person responsible for managing
aging and investing an
institutional fund shall manage and invest the fund in good faith and with the care
an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would
ld exercise under similar
circumstances.
KRS § 273.605.
110.

The KUPMIFA also provides, among other things, guidelines
elines such persons must

consider when analyzing the propriety of a particular investment or management decision:
a. General economic conditions;
b. The possible effect of inflation or deflation;
c. The expected tax consequences, if any, of investment decisions or strategies;
d. The role that each investment or course of action plays
lays within the overall
investment portfolio of the fund;
e. The expected total return from income and the appreciation
ciation of investments;
f. Other resources of the institution;
g. The needs of the institution and the fund to make distribution
istribution and to preserve
capital; and
h. An asset’s special relationship or special value, iff any, to the charitable purpose of
the institution.

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The University of Louisville Foundation’s board of directors follows the Uniform
Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act . . . a law providing parameters
for charitable institutions regarding investment and expenditure practices. The law
ensures nonprofit administrators remain focused on the long-term viability of the
funds entrusted to the organization.

 Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson breached their fiduciary duties

imposed by the KUPMIFA by, among other things:
a. Causing the Foundation—without authority—to continue including the unspent
carryover in future budgets against Cambridge’s recommendation and in violation
of the Foundation’s resolution to the contrary;
b. Failing to reduce the Foundation’s excessive 7.48% spending rate against
Cambridge’s recommendation, in knowing violation of the Foundation’s
Investment Policy, and while failing to consider the KUPMIFA factors;
c. Inflating the Endowment Pool’s value (on which the spending rate was assessed)
by causing the Foundation (1) to recategorize expenditures (including, but not
limited to, the UHI line of credit and the JGBCC Grant) as Endowment Pool
investments; and (2) to record fictitious returns on certain alleged investments;
d. Approving and/or administering the UHI line of credit without proper due
diligence and while failing to evaluate its propriety in light of the Investment
Policy and/or the KUPMIFA factors;
e. Causing the UHI line of credit to fund certain expenditures (e.g., UHI salaries)
without authorization to do so;
f. Causing the Foundation to fund the UHI line of credit with at least $55.7 million
in violation of the authorized $35 million limit;
g.

Causing the Foundation to pay at least $10 million to the James Graham Brown
Cancer Center without authorization to do so, knowing that amount would not be
repaid (or, at a minimum, that repayment was unlikely), and while failing to
consider the KUPMIFA factors;

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111.

 engaging in the wrongful conduct described herein and failing to consider the
propriety of those compensation payments in light of the KUPMIFA factors;
i. Causing the Foundation to liquidate Endowment assets—without authorization—
to fund compensation payments;
j. Causing the Foundation to guarantee debts related to certain startups without
authorization to do so and while failing to consider the KUPMIFA factors;
k. Causing the Foundation to transfer approximately $10 million to risky start-up
companies without proper due diligence and while failing to evaluate those
expenditures in light of the Foundation’s Investment Policy and the KUPMIFA
factors;
l. Causing the Foundation to pay millions to start-up companies with which the
Defendants had direct and/or indirect conflicts of interest;
m. Causing the Foundation to pay approximately $10.3 million above the appraised
values for certain properties without any documented or reasonable justification
and while failing to consider those transfers in light of the Investment Policy and
KUPMIFA factors; and
n. Taking affirmative steps to conceal the above-described breaches of fiduciary
duty.
112.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson were, at a minimum, grossly

negligent in committing the above-described acts and omissions (i.e., the Defendants exhibited
wanton or reckless disregard for the property of others).

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h. Accepting excessive and unauthorized compensation while simultaneously

 Alternatively, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson’s above-described

acts or omissions constitute affirmative, willful misconduct (i.e., conduct they knew was not in
the University or Foundation’s best interest).
114.

As a direct and proximate result of Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and

Tomlinson’s breaches of fiduciary duty, the University and the Foundation were injured in that
the Endowment lost millions of dollars. Not only was the Endowment depleted through improper
and excessive spending, but it also missed out on the investment returns it could have received
had the Defendants properly invested the misspent funds at issue.
COUNT TWO: BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY
(Against Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson)
115.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
116.

As officers and/or directors of the Foundation, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin,

and Tomlinson owed fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and good faith to the Foundation.
117.

The Foundation is “a nonprofit fiduciary holding funds for the benefit of [the

University].” KRS § 42.540. As Foundation agents expressly charged with investing and
managing the Endowment for the sole benefit of the University, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin,
and Tomlinson also owed fiduciary duties of care, loyalty and good faith to the University.
118.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson breached their fiduciary duties

by, among other things:
a. Causing the Foundation—without authority—to continue including the unspent
carryover in future budgets against Cambridge’s recommendation and in violation
of the Foundation’s resolution to the contrary;

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113.

 Cambridge’s recommendation, in knowing violation of the Foundation’s
Investment Policy, and while failing to consider the KUPMIFA factors;
c. Inflating the Endowment Pool’s value (on which the spending rate was assessed)
by causing the Foundation (1) to recategorize expenditures (including, but not
limited to, the UHI line of credit and the JGBCC Grant) as Endowment Pool
investments; and (2) to record fictitious returns on certain alleged investments;
d. Approving and/or administering the UHI line of credit without proper due
diligence and while failing to evaluate its propriety in light of the Investment
Policy and/or the KUPMIFA factors;
e. Causing the UHI line of credit to fund certain expenditures (e.g., UHI salaries)
without authorization to do so;
f. Causing the Foundation to fund the UHI line of credit with at least $55.7 million
in violation of the authorized $35 million limit;
g.

Causing the Foundation to pay at least $10 million to the James Graham Brown
Cancer Center without authorization to do so, knowing that amount would not be
repaid (or, at a minimum, that repayment was unlikely), and while failing to
consider the KUPMIFA factors;

h. Accepting excessive and unauthorized compensation while simultaneously
engaging in the wrongful conduct described herein and failing to consider the
propriety of those compensation payments in light of the KUPMIFA factors;
i. Causing the Foundation to liquidate Endowment assets—without authorization—
to fund compensation payments;

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b. Failing to reduce the Foundation’s excessive 7.48% spending rate against

 authorization to do so and while failing to consider the KUPMIFA factors;
k. Causing the Foundation to transfer approximately $10 million to risky start-up
companies without proper due diligence and while failing to evaluate those
expenditures in light of the Foundation’s Investment Policy and the KUPMIFA
factors;
l. Causing the Foundation to pay millions to start-up companies with which the
Defendants had direct and/or indirect conflicts of interest;
m. Causing the Foundation to pay approximately $10.3 million above the appraised
values for certain properties without any documented or reasonable justification
and while failing to consider those transfers in light of the Investment Policy and
KUPMIFA factors; and
n. Taking affirmative steps to conceal the above-described breaches of fiduciary
duty.
119.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson were, at a minimum, grossly

negligent in committing the above-described acts and omissions (i.e., the Defendants exhibited
wanton or reckless disregard for the property of others).
120.

Alternatively, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson’s above-described

acts or omissions constitute affirmative, willful misconduct (i.e., conduct they knew was not in
the University or Foundation’s best interest).
121.

As a direct and proximate result of Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and

Tomlinson’s breaches of fiduciary duty, the University and the Foundation were injured in that
the Endowment lost millions of dollars. Not only was the Endowment depleted through improper

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j. Causing the Foundation to guarantee debts related to certain startups without

 had the Defendants properly invested the misspent funds at issue.
COUNT THREE: BREACH OF KENTUCKY NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS ACT
(Against Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson)
122.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
123.

The Foundation is a non-profit corporation and is thus governed, in part, by the

Kentucky Nonprofit Corporations Act (the “KNCA”).
124.

The KNCA imposes liability on individuals who cause a nonprofit corporation to

engage in unauthorized transactions: “All persons who assume to act as a corporation without
authority so to do shall be jointly and severally liable for all debts and liability incurred or arising
as a result thereof.” KRS § 273.380. Indeed, it is well-established that the business judgment rule
does not protect unauthorized transactions as they are necessarily not the product of any business
judgment.
125.

Accordingly, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson are jointly and

severally liable for the Endowment losses resulting from the unauthorized transactions described
herein.
126.

The KNCA also imposes fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and good faith on non-

profit directors and officers:
A director [or officer] of a nonprofit corporation . . . shall discharge his duties as a
director [or officer], including duties as a member of a committee:
(a) In good faith;
(b) On an informed basis; and
(c) In a manner he honestly believes to the in the best interests of the corporation.

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and excessive spending, but it also missed out on the investment returns it could have received

 127.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson breached their fiduciary duties

imposed by the KNCA by, among other things:
a. Causing the Foundation—without authority—to continue including the unspent
carryover in future budgets against Cambridge’s recommendation and in violation
of the Foundation’s resolution to the contrary;
b. Failing to reduce the Foundation’s excessive 7.48% spending rate against
Cambridge’s recommendation, in knowing violation of the Foundation’s
Investment Policy, and while failing to consider the KUPMIFA factors;
c. Inflating the Endowment Pool’s value (on which the spending rate was assessed)
by causing the Foundation (1) to recategorize expenditures (including, but not
limited to, the UHI line of credit and the JGBCC Grant) as Endowment Pool
investments; and (2) to record fictitious returns on certain alleged investments;
d. Approving and/or administering the UHI line of credit without proper due
diligence and while failing to evaluate its propriety in light of the Investment
Policy and/or the KUPMIFA factors;
e. Causing the UHI line of credit to fund certain expenditures (e.g., UHI salaries)
without authorization to do so;
f. Causing the Foundation to fund the UHI line of credit with at least $55.7 million
in violation of the authorized $35 million limit;
g.

Causing the Foundation to pay at least $10 million to the James Graham Brown
Cancer Center without authorization to do so, knowing that amount would not be

26

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KRS §§ 273.215(1) & 273.229(1).

 consider the KUPMIFA factors;
h. Accepting excessive and unauthorized compensation while simultaneously
engaging in the wrongful conduct described herein and failing to consider the
propriety of those compensation payments in light of the KUPMIFA factors;
i. Causing the Foundation to liquidate Endowment assets—without authorization—
to fund compensation payments;
j. Causing the Foundation to guarantee debts related to certain startups without
authorization to do so and while failing to consider the KUPMIFA factors;
k. Causing the Foundation to transfer approximately $10 million to risky start-up
companies without proper due diligence and while failing to evaluate those
expenditures in light of the Foundation’s Investment Policy and the KUPMIFA
factors;
l. Causing the Foundation to pay millions to start-up companies with which the
Defendants had direct and/or indirect conflicts of interest;
m. Causing the Foundation to pay approximately $10.3 million above the appraised
values for certain properties without any documented or reasonable justification
and while failing to consider those transfers in light of the Investment Policy and
KUPMIFA factors; and
n. Taking affirmative steps to conceal the above-described breaches of fiduciary
duty.

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repaid (or, at a minimum, that repayment was unlikely), and while failing to

 Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson were, at a minimum, grossly

negligent in committing the above-described acts and omissions (i.e., the Defendants exhibited
wanton or reckless disregard for the property of others).
129.

Alternatively, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson’s above-described

acts or omissions constitute affirmative, willful misconduct (i.e., conduct they knew was not in
the University or Foundation’s best interest).
130.

As a direct and proximate result of Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and

Tomlinson’s breaches of fiduciary duty, the University and the Foundation were injured in that
the Endowment lost millions of dollars. Not only was the Endowment depleted through improper
and excessive spending, but it also missed out on the investment returns it could have received
had the Defendants properly invested the misspent funds at issue.
COUNT FOUR: AIDING AND ABETTING BREACHES OF FIDUCIARY DUTY
(Against Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson)
131.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
132.

As described in Counts 1–3, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson

committed numerous breaches of the fiduciary duties they owed to the University and
Foundation.
133.

This Count is alleged in the alternative to Counts 1–3.

134.

To the extent any of the aforementioned Defendants did not participate directly in

a particular breach of fiduciary duty, he or she, at a minimum, gave the breaching person(s)
substantial assistance or encouragement in effectuating the breach.

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128.

 Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson were all instrumental in

developing and effectuating the overall scheme of causing the Foundation to excessively spend
(and lose) Endowment assets.
136.

Further, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin and Tomlinson were all aware of this

scheme and knew that the misconduct of the others breached fiduciary duties.
137.

As a direct and proximate result of Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and

Tomlinson’s breaches of fiduciary duty, which breaches were substantially assisted or
encouraged by one another, the University and the Foundation were injured in that the
Endowment lost millions of dollars. Not only was the Endowment depleted through improper
and excessive spending, but it also missed out on the investment returns it could have received
had the Defendants properly invested the misspent funds at issue.
COUNT FIVE: FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION
(Against Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson)
138.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
139.

Ramsey,

Smith,

Deutsch,

Curtin,

and

Tomlinson

made

material

misrepresentations that (1) certain items (such as the UHI line of credit and JGBCC Grant) were
investments; and (2) that certain alleged investments (including the UHI line of credit, the
JGBCC Grant, and the startup investments) were generating returns.
140.

These misrepresentations, which were made from 2008 until 2016, were

transmitted to Cambridge, who subsequently published them in quarterly reports distributed to
the Foundation and the University during that timeframe.
141.

For example, in the June 2015 Cambridge Report, the value of the “UHI line of

credit” was represented as $69,444,559 when it was truly close to zero.
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135.

 The above-described statements were false because (1) these items were actually

expenditures that were unlikely to generate a return sufficient to satisfy the Investment Policy;
and (2) these items—regardless of how they were categorized—did not, in fact, generate returns,
but rather resulted in multi-million dollar losses.
143.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson knew these misrepresentations

were false at the time they made them. Indeed, Deutsch expressly admitted on September 11,
2012 that he knew misrepresenting the existence of fictitious returns was “inappropriate.”
144.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson made these representations with

the intent to induce the Foundation and University to act upon them. More specifically, those
individuals intended that their misrepresentation would, among other things (1) cause the
Foundation to increase its spending policy allocation; (2) cause the Foundation to continue
spending money on their preferred projects and ventures; (3) cause the independent directors and
officers within the University and Foundation to mistakenly believe Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch,
Curtin, and Tomlinson were successfully investing Foundation funds; and (4) cause the
independent directors and officers within the University and Foundation to approve substantial
compensation payable to Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson.
145.

The

Foundation

and

University

relied

upon

the

aforementioned

misrepresentations by (1) increasing the spending policy allocation; (2) spending Endowment
funds on various projects and ventures that did not comply with the Foundation’s Investment
Policy; (3) not taking action to replace Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson or
otherwise halt their concealed misconduct; and (4) approve substantial compensation payable to
Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson.

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142.

 These misrepresentations injured the Foundation and the University in that the

Endowment was improperly depleted and Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson were
paid substantial sums of money while they were simultaneously taking concealed actions that
harmed the Foundation and University. Not only was the Endowment depleted through improper
and excessive spending, but it also missed out on the investment returns it could have received
had the Defendants properly invested the misspent funds at issue.
147.

The Foundation and the University did not discover this fraud until on or about

June 8, 2017, when Alvarez and Marsal released a Procedures & Findings Report that
investigated potential mismanagement of Endowment funds.
COUNT SIX: FRAUDULENT SUPPRESSION/OMISSION
(Against Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson)
148.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
149.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson were all fiduciaries of both the

Foundation and the University in that they were all Foundation officers and/or directors who
invested the Endowment for the University’s sole benefit. As such, they had a duty to disclose all
material and pertinent facts to the Foundation and the University.
150.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson breached that duty by failing to

disclose to the Foundation and the University the following material facts (among others):
a. That the UHI line of credit was not generating investment returns, but was in fact
losing millions of dollars;
b. That the Foundation’s spending rate was excessively high and artificially inflated;
c. That the UHI line of credit was being used to fund expenditures (e.g., UHI
salaries);
31

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146.

 authorized $35 million limit;
e. That the Foundation had transferred $10 million to the James Graham Brown
Cancer Center;
f. That Ramsey and Smith were accepting unauthorized compensation payments
from the Foundation;
g. That the Foundation was liquidating Endowment assets to fund compensation
payments; and
h. That the startup “investments” were not generating investments returns, but were
in fact losing millions of dollars.
151.

Not only did Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson fail to disclose the

above material facts, but they took affirmative steps to conceal them.
152.

Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson’s fraudulent omissions caused

the Foundation and University to (1) increase the spending policy allocation; (2) spend
Endowment funds on various projects and ventures that did not comply with the Foundation’s
Investment Policy; (3) not take action to replace Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson
or otherwise halt their concealed misconduct; and (4) approve substantial compensation payable
to Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson.
153.

These omissions injured the Foundation and the University in that the Endowment

was improperly depleted and Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson were paid
substantial sums of money while they were simultaneously taking concealed actions that harmed
the Foundation and University. Not only was the Endowment depleted through improper and

32

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d. That the UHI line of credit had been funded with substantially more than the

 the Defendants properly invested the misspent funds at issue.
154.

The Foundation and the University did not discover this fraud until on or about

June 8, 2017, when Alvarez and Marsal released a Procedures & Findings Report that
investigated potential mismanagement of Endowment funds.
COUNT SEVEN: AIDING AND ABETTING BREACHES OF FIDUCIARY DUTY
(Against Stites)
155.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
156.

As described in Counts 1–3, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson

committed numerous breaches of the fiduciary duties they owed to the University and
Foundation. The University and Foundation were damaged by these breaches.
157.

Stites, through its agents, took an active part in designing mechanisms to effect

the wrongful transactions complained of in this action. Stites also formed business entities and
performed other acts with the express purpose of disguising the transactions or frustrating open
records requests.
158.

Stites actively aided and abetted the breaches of fiduciary duty possible. Because

of Stites’ substantial assistance or encouragement, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and
Tomlinson were able to effectuate the transactions that breached fiduciary duties as described in
Counts 1–3. Alternatively, the breaches of fiduciary duty would have been discovered in a
timely manner by open records requests or other fiduciaries and the damage stemming from
these breaches would have been significantly reduced.
159.

Upon information and belief, Stites’ agents knew or should have known that the

other Defendants’ actions breached fiduciary duties. This is supported by Stites’ admission at a
33

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excessive spending, but it also missed out on the investment returns it could have received had

 obfuscation. Even without this admission, Stites’ intent is apparent from the parties’ discussions
of the various transactions and entities.
COUNT EIGHT: LEGAL MALPRACTICE
(Against Stites)
160.

Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all foregoing factual allegations of this

Complaint as if fully set out herein.
161.

Stites had an employment relationship with the Foundation. As alleged above,

Stites neglected its duties to the Foundation. Instead, Stites acted as if its clients were Ramsey,
Smith, Curtin, Deutsch, and Tomlinson. Stites, though its agents, negligently or intentionally
helped these insiders effectuate transactions that were not in the Foundation’s or University’s
best interest.
162.

Stites’ negligence was a proximate cause of the damage to the University and

Foundation. Absent this negligence, Ramsey, Smith, Deutsch, Curtin, and Tomlinson would not
have been able to effectuate the unlawful transactions. Alternatively, the wrongful transactions
would have been discovered in a timely manner by open records requests or other fiduciaries and
the damage stemming from these breaches would have been significantly reduced.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs hereby respectfully request that the Court:
A.

Enter a judgment against Defendants in favor of the Foundation and the

University for compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by a jury, plus interest,
costs, attorneys’ fees, and punitive damages; and
B.

Award all other relief to which Plaintiffs may be entitled.
DEMAND FOR TRIAL BY JURY

Plaintiffs hereby demand a trial by jury on all issues so triable.
34

F01DF6CD-8A21-4CB9-80A1-9F7FFD3B7354 : 000034 of 000035

board meeting that it structured certain transactions and business entities for the purpose of

 /s/ Jeremy S. Rogers
Jeremy S. Rogers

OF COUNSEL
Andrew P. Campbell (pro hac vice to be filed)
Stephen D. Wadsworth (pro hac vice to be filed)
John C. Guin (pro hac vice to be filed)
A. Todd Campbell (pro hac vice to be filed)
Cason M. Kirby (pro hac vice to be filed)
CAMPBELL GUIN, LLC
505 20th Street North, Ste. 1600
Birmingham, AL 35205
Telephone: (205) 224-0750
R. Kenyon Meyer
Jeremy S. Rogers
DINSMORE & SHOHL LLP
101 S. Fifth Street, Suite 2500
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
(502) 540-2300 Telephone
(502) 585-2207 Facsimile

Counsel for Plaintiffs

35

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Respectfully submitted,