Jennifer Spielvogel has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Lake Michigan College a little more than a month after she was fired from her position as president of the Benton Harbor-based community college.

The lawsuit was filed with the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan Southern Division Friday, June 10. The case will be presided over by Judge Janet Neff.

On May 5, the LMC Board of Trustees voted unanimously to terminate Spielvogel with just cause following a public hearing. The board cited several reasons for its decision, including that Spielvogel allegedly had more than $20,000 in unapproved and unauthorized expenses to the college, violated multiple college policies, conducted herself improperly and submitted inadequate goals and objectives.

In the lawsuit, Spielvogel claims she was unjustly terminated not for the reasons stated by the board in the just cause hearing, but because she discovered the college was in non-compliance with federal laws and regulations governing student aid.

Spielvogel also made this claim publicly at a just cause hearing.

The college denied Spielvogel’s accusation soon after the hearing and then performed an investigation into her claim. The investigation, which included a review from an independent law firm, found no issues in regard to financial aid over the past 15 years, according to Doug Schaffer, vice president of student enrollment and management at LMC.

To support her claim, Spielvogel provided in the lawsuit the results of a review of LMC’s financial aid department performed on or about March 7-8 by employees of Cuyahoga Community College — the institution where Spielvogel worked prior to taking the job at LMC. The review, according to the lawsuit, found 15 compliance issues, including some rated “serious” and “requiring immediate attention.”

Speilvogel said the review was performed because LMC’s director of financial aid had been on an extended medical leave and that her long absence raised concerns over possible compliance issues in the department.

In the lawsuit, Spielvogel is seeking the following relief:

• Award lost past and future wages and fringe benefits caused by her termination

• Award compensatory damages, including loss of professional reputation and emotional distress damages

• Reinstatement to her former position or award her front pay

• Award attorney fees, interest and other relief deemed appropriate by the court

Robert Harrison, who is serving as interim president of LMC, said in a prepared statement that the college is aware of the lawsuit, but has not been officially served.

“Based on comments made by her attorney, we expected that a lawsuit would be filed and this does not come as a surprise, but we cannot comment on pending litigation,” Harrison said.

Spielvogel was hired Jan. 1 to succeed former president Harrison, who had served at the college for 16 years.