Dean: Faculty Hired "Very Good" Lawyer

Earlier this year, AveWatch revealed the incredible story of how Dean Bernard Dobranski (Ave Maria School of Law; AMSL) offered suggestions to Ave Maria College (AMC) faculty on lawyers best qualified to help them fight Tom Monaghan and his abusive practices at AMC. Dr. Chris Beiting, a former Dean at AMC said,

"I went to see Dean Dobranski in early 2004, and he proved to be most receptive. He lamented that there was little he could do about my and my wife's employment situation, nor the breaking of [AMC's] institutional promises. But he did suggest I contact a good labor lawyer, and quietly gave me the names of several of them."

In 2004, when Dobranski offered the advice, he may not have feared Tom Monaghan given the soft hand used with Dobranski up to that point. After that time, Monaghan started to exert strong financial coercion on Dobranski's Law School and, subsequently, force AMSL to uproot from success in Michigan to Monaghan's for-profit real estate development in south Florida. In recent years, Dobranski has not only offered Monaghan unquestioned acquiescence to his every whim, but also ruthless treatment to employees and alumni who dare call Monaghan to accountability. Such treatment lead to a lawsuit recently filed against Dobranski and Monaghan by three whistleblowing professors from AMSL.

Irony of ironies. Guess who was one of the "good labor lawyers" suggested by Dobranski to Dr. Beiting back in 2004... Deborah Gordon, the labor law powerhouse who recently filed the suit against Monaghan and Dobranski on behalf of the three AMSL professors. Earlier this week, Beiting told AveWatch:

"Deborah Gordon was one of the three lawyers suggested to me by Dobranksi when I complained to him about Ave Maria's treatment of my wife and I. Dobranski said she was a very good lawyer."

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If Gordon made Dobranski's top three for labor lawyers, then he and Tom Monaghan will look awfully silly if they attempt to denigrate her background or integrity as a means to pull growing support for the professors (1,2,3) from fellow Catholics.