Attorney for Sherry Roark Requests “Correction”

The February 18, 2014 edition of The Louisville Cardinal contained an article entitled “IT accused of discrimination and financial mismanagement.” The article reported internal complaints involving employment practices at the University’s IT Department. The article referred in part to Sherry Roark, the Assistant Director of IT Information Systems who has served as the Interim Director of that department since September 2013. Roark previously filed a lawsuit against The Louisville Cardinal, claiming that certain statements in the article defamed her. Roark later voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit.

Through her attorney, Roark has requested a “correction” of the following statements that the article cited from the complaints: (1) that Roark is not qualified for her job; (2) that she has no leadership, technical or people skills; and (3) that she is a “hench-person” for Vice President of IT Dr. Priscilla Hancock.

Roark’s attorney wrote that the job description for Roark’s position requires a Bachelor’s Degree and 10 or more years in related work experience and that Roark meets both of those requirements. The attorney wrote that Roark has received favorable job evaluations in her 20 years as an employee of the University’s IT Department, including favorable evaluations of her leadership, technical and people skills. Roark’s attorney also wrote that she has received extensive training in the field of Information Technology, including training in leadership, technology and people skills.

According to the attorney, the term “hench-person” incorrectly described Roark because it suggested that she has performed unpleasant, wrong or illegal tasks for Dr. Hancock, and there is no allegation that Roark actually engaged in any discrimination or mismanagement on behalf of Dr. Hancock. The attorney also wrote that Roark was not involved in the IT department’s decision to use Oracle Managed Services and outsource a portion of PeopleSoft support to India.