Mount Aloysius College and a former employee have settled a civil lawsuit in which the employee accused the college of retaliation because he hired an attorney to challenge what he considered a demotion, and because of his objection to a long-ago incident of racial discrimination in the hiring of a men’s basketball coach.

Larry Brugh began working for Mount Aloysius in 1985.

In 1988, his future wife, Suzanne, was hired by Mount Aloysius to be the college’s assistant director of resident life.

They were married in 1989 and for a time lived in campus housing.

In 1992, Larry Brugh said he witnessed a case of racial discrimination when a favored candidate to lead the men’s basketball team — of African American descent — was eventually rejected because his wife was Caucasian.

The coach, Lynn Ramage, who had experience as a head coach at another college, eventually learned of the reasons he was not hired and filed a civil lawsuit against Mount Aloysius, which was settled out of court.

According to an opinion written by U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson, Larry Brugh believed he was retaliated against for his objections. In the 1990s, he filed charges of employment discrimination with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

Larry Brugh claimed he was denied the job as acting dean of students because of his objections.

That charge was eventually settled, but Larry Brugh contended his objections to the 1992 incident resulted in repeated retaliation against him until he was eventually terminated in 2012 by former Mount Aloysius President, Thomas Foley.

That termination became the subject of the federal lawsuit that was filed in 2017 by both Larry and Suzanne Brugh.

At that time, Suzanne Brugh had moved to another job, but was serving as a clock operator for Mount Aloysius basketball games. She claimed retaliation after being removed from that position.

Judge Gibson, who presided over the case, issued an opinion on Jan. 7, 2020, which cleared the way for trial in the Brugh case.

By that point, Larry’s anti-discrimination objection was part of the history of the case, but more relevant was his firing by Foley. Foley altered Larry Brugh’s title by naming him Director of Career Services, but ruling he would no longer be Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. His salary was to remain the same.

Attorney James Carroll of Pittsburgh sent two letters to the college contending Larry’s new assignment was a “demotion.” The college contended it wasn’t.

The second letter expressed the attorney’s “overriding concern” that the college was retaliating against Brugh as the result of his 1992 discrimination complaint.

Larry Brugh contended Foley told him he was being terminated because he had obtained an attorney — which itself is a protected action under federal civil rights laws.

Foley denied the statement.

In the 2020 opinion, Judge Gibson tossed out Brugh’s contention that the alteration in job titles was an alleged demotion and a retaliatory act, but he denied dismissal of Brugh’s contention that his termination itself was retaliatory.

The judge also dismissed Suzanne Brugh’s lawsuit because it was determined she was no longer a college employee, but was a private contractor in her position as clock operator for basketball games.

The judge set a trial date of Sept. 20 for the Brugh civil case to go to a jury.

In the meantime, Judge Gibson asked U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan in Pittsburgh to serve as a mediator.

On April 16, Ranjan concluded the parties had “reached a settlement agreement in principle.”

He read the terms of the agreement into the record — then filed it under seal.

The case was then transferred back to Gibson. Late last week, Gibson filed an order stating that both sides had stipulated to the dismissal of the court case.

He also added, “The parties agree to bear their own costs.”

Neither attorney Carroll nor attorney Steven W. Zoffer of Pittsburgh, representing Mount Aloysius, returned calls.

Contacted by email, Larry Brugh stated Tuesday, “I very much appreciate your outreach but we are not permitted to comment on the outcome of our case.”

Lynn Ramage now lives in Arizona, where he teaches high school and still coaches basketball.

“I tell the kids this stuff (discrimination) is real … what people went through,” he said.

Ramage said he grew up in Virginia, and he said these days, “the reality of this hidden monster has been brought out.”

He said he was happy for Larry Brugh.

“It’s good to get it (the civil lawsuit) out of the way.”

Then, referring to his own case, he said, “At age 64, I’m too old to teach in college. It bothers me (that he didn’t get the Mount Aloysius job). I accept the fact. It is what it is.”

Yet Ramage believes he missed out on a golden opportunity.

The Mount Aloysius job back then (almost 30 years ago) was “a stepping stone to greatness,” he said.

The school had scholarships available, a beautiful campus and many good players nearby that could have been recruited.

His lawsuit helped call out and exposed what they were doing, and, he said, that gave him some satisfaction.

Larry and Suzanne Brugh both remain in education.