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Robert Wunderlich, joined by two Joliet Junior College trustees, filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the appointment of a trustee seated on the Board of Trustees this past week.
The lawsuit contends that Wunderlich should have been named a trustee when the board initially approved his appointment at a Sept. 25 meeting. Instead, one trustee changed her vote, resulting in a 3-3 tie that kept Wunderlich off the board.
The board met again Monday, Oct. 7, and elected Josh Stamborski to the board in a 3-2 vote, with one member abstaining – the same vote Wunderlich received Sept 25 before Trustee Alicia Morales changed her vote.
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The lawsuit comes days ahead of a meeting Wednesday in which the JJC board is expected to vote on a new contract for college President Clyne Namuo.
JJC Trustees Michelle Lee and Maureen Broderick are joining Wunderlich in the lawsuit.
Alan Bruggeman, attorney for the plaintiffs, said he is seeking an administrative review of the case, which would quicken the process for a decision in hopes of having a judge consider the case before the Wednesday meeting of the JJC board.
“I don’t know if I can get a decision that quickly,” Bruggeman said.
He did caution that a decision in favor of Wunderlich could undo any major decision the JJC board makes while the lawsuit is pending.
“I would not make a major change with a vote that may have to be redone,” Bruggeman said.
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Wunderlich had appeared before the board Monday asking that he be seated as a trustee based on the Sept. 25 vote. But the board went ahead with the vote that made Stamborski a trustee.
JJC attorney Bryan Kopman advised the board that it was legal for Morales to change her vote at the Sept. 25 meeting.
Wunderlich was a 44-year member of the JJC board and at times served as its chairman before leaving the board in 2021.
The lawsuit filed in Will County court names as defendants JJC, Namuo and the four other trustees on the board before Stamborski was appointed.
Stamborski was appointed to a seat vacated in August when Trustee John “Jake” Mahalik left the board.