Teddy Tauscher
Equinox Staff
Sodexo’s lawsuit against Keene State College College has Keene State and The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) employees mum on the subject.
According to a Keene Sentinel article by Meg McIntyre, Sodexo is suing Keene State College, Plymouth State University and the USNH.
Last July both Keene State and Plymouth switched dining contractors from Sodexo to Chartwells Schools Dining Services. Sodexo alleges that people in management positions were rehired by Keene State despite there being a clause prohibiting it. The clause specifically prohibits management from being rehired from within one year of any termination of employment with Sodexo.
According to the same article, the decision to switch food contractors was made because it would save the university four million dollars over the ten year contract.
Sodexo is asking for one million dollars for damages caused by the rehiring of employees at both Plymouth and Keene State. This number was derived from doubling the annual salary of each manager being kept on.
Both the Director of Strategic Communications at Keene State Kelly Ricaurte and the Director of Strategic Sourcing at USNH Linda St. Cyr responded to request for comment with the following: “The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) fully met its contractual obligations and is disappointed that Sodexo, having lost the contract through a public bid process, has chosen to file suit in federal district court. USNH is confident in its position and will vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
Director of Campus Life at Keene State Jennifer Ferrell said she was unable to speak on the matter and advised that members of the dining team at Keene State would give similar responses.
Both the lawyer for Sodexo Michael R. Perry and Sodexo’s Public Relations team did not respond to a request for interview.
Teddy Tauscher can be contacted at
ttauscher@kscequinox.com.
