The former director of the Kansas University Alumni Association is suing the association for more than $2.2 million.

Fred Williams, who was fired by the association’s board of directors in May, filed suit Thursday in Douglas County District Court claiming he deserves compensation — including both salary and benefits — through the term of his contract.

The contract was to expire in June 2008.

“You’ve got to honor your contract,” said Roger Stanton, the attorney representing Williams. “If you don’t honor contracts, what good are they?”

Williams, 58, held the association’s top post for 21 years. Board members have never given specific reasons for his firing, which came after they asked him to resign.

Larry Borden, chairman of the board, and Jennifer Sanner, spokeswoman for the association, referred inquiries to Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, the Kansas City, Mo., law firm representing the Alumni Association. Larry Ward, the lead attorney on the case, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Stanton said Williams and association representatives met once with a mediator, but the discussions didn’t lead to a settlement. Stanton said he and Williams would consider negotiating with the association.

Williams’ salary was $200,000 per year. The $2.2 million total being sought includes $961,678.21 in salary and projected raises, and $490,395.38 in benefits through the remainder of the contract term.

It also includes $778,200.48 in salary and benefits Williams claims to be entitled to under a wrongful termination clause in the contract.

His benefits included insurance, a car, country club and organization memberships and KU sports tickets.

Finally, Williams is seeking “more than $75,000” for defamation, claiming the incident has damaged his reputation.

“You see the contract and you can see why he wouldn’t resign,” Stanton said. “For the life of me, I don’t understand how somebody who has been involved in business matters all their lives would handle it this way.”

In an interview in June, Borden said the firing wasn’t related to any specific event.

“Times change — we all change,” said Borden, of Colorado Springs, Colo. “I’d say it was more an overall than an incident. Sometimes those instances just have people bring things to mind, and to reflect on the whole and not the specific. We examined the whole and made a decision.”

Documents filed with the lawsuit indicate the termination letter sent to Williams included four reasons for his firing:

• Failure “to supervise and manage (his) staff properly, including to obtain and command the respect of the staff.”
• Failure “to take responsibility for the problems that have recently developed within the Alumni Association when these matters were brought to (his) attention.”
• Failure “to follow specific and repeated direction from the executive committee (as well as former chairs at the Alumni Association) that (he) not make disparaging comments about the Chancellor or any other member of the University Administration.”
• Failure “to follow the instructions of the executive committee not to take any action that could be perceived as retaliatory to staff as a result of the recent investigation.”

Stanton declined to discuss specifics of any of the reasons cited, but said none were acceptable reasons for termination under Williams’ contract.

In June, Borden told the Journal-World Williams “did a lot of great things and deserves credit for those.”

“From a board’s standpoint, we’re going to be as fair and equitable (in resolving the contract issue),” he said. “What that means I don’t know, and for how long I don’t know.”

Del Shankel, a longtime KU faculty member and administrator, is serving as interim president and CEO while a national search is conducted.

The Alumni Association, an independent affiliate of KU, has more than 47,000 members. Its annual operating budget is $4 million.