After not receiving a paycheck for weeks, an Oakland City University coach has launched a class-action lawsuit against the school in federal court to try to recover the money.
Chelsea Price, an assistant with the school’s women’s soccer team, filed the suit in U.S. District Court on June 1. As of Monday, three other workers had signed on, and at least one former employee told the Courier & Press they plan to join as well.
The suit is open to “all non-exempt employees who performed work for Defendant after April 27th, 2026 and who have been paid no wages between April 27th, 2026 and June 1st,” the complaint reads.
Employees stopped receiving pay after April 24. OCU missed normally scheduled direct deposits on May 8, May 22 and June 5, the lapses coming as the school battled serious financial woes that ultimately led to a mass layoff of most university employees on May 31.
OCU had previously denied it planned layoffs at all, even after sending a WARN notice to Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development on April 1. In the ensuing weeks, university officials said the sale of a patent on carbon capture, as well as an unnamed “strategic partner” apparently tied to artificial intelligence data centers, would keep the school afloat. None of the plans came to fruition.
On May 19, the school announced it would lay off employees and suspend undergraduate programs for at least a year.
In piles of internal emails obtained by the Courier & Press, OCU President Ron Dempsey has repeatedly claimed an unnamed donor would cough up as much as $1 million to cover the missed payrolls. However, the school’s self-set deadlines have come and gone each time. And the explanations haven’t progressed beyond vague “banking issues.”
On Monday, he again promised the school was on the verge of “producing payroll checks.”
“Word from donor is that funds should be release (sic) and be received by the donor this afternoon or tomorrow morning,” he wrote just before 11 a.m.
It’s unclear who this donor is, or if it’s one person or a collection of people. Former employees who have spoken to the Courier & Press have repeatedly expressed confusion over why a banking transfer would take multiple weeks in 2026. And they don’t know why a donor, if they have the money, is waiting for their own funds to be transferred to them.
One employee, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, called OCU’s excuses about pay “absolutely ridiculous.”
“Everyone’s sick of it,” they said.
Carmel attorneys Robert J. Hunt and Robert F. Hunt are representing Price and the others. There’s no attorney for the school listed in federal court records.
The Courier & Press reached out to Todd Mosby – OCU’s associate vice president for development, marketing and communications – for comment on Monday. A few minutes later, an email arrived from Dempsey.
“In response to your inquiry to Todd Mosby, OCU cannot comment on pending litigation,” he stated.
As of 3 p.m. Monday, employees had yet to receive an update on payroll.
What the lawsuit says
According to the suit, Price is one of the few people still employed at the university. Or at least she was as of June 1. She’s suing OCU for violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Indiana’s wage payment laws.
She and the others who have already signed on, or plan to sign on, are seeking “all available damages, including all unpaid wages, all available liquidated (treble damages), all attorney’s fees, costs and expenses, plus any other damage to which Price and her fellow plaintiff class members may be entitled pursuant to law.”
“Defendants’ systematic violation of federal and state wage laws was willful and in bad faith,” the compliant reads.
District court issued a summons to OCU on June 3. As of Monday, the docket didn’t show the school or its attorneys had made an official appearance.
The lack of pay and subsequent layoffs have created a perilous situation for workers who once gave their all for the university. An ex-employee told the Courier & Press getting by has been “tough, truly.”
Things only got worse last week. An email to employees obtained by the C&P showed that laid off workers wouldn’t have gap health insurance, either.
COBRA, the program that usually provides coverage for those who lose their jobs, wouldn’t be available to OCU workers, the email stated. If former employees needed help, they’d have to reach out to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: OCU coach files class-action lawsuit over missed paychecks
Reporting by Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press | USA TODAY Network
