Maldonado appeals ruling

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Ivan Maldonado

The former YSU employee had attempted to enroll as a student at the university this fall.

By Harold Gwin

YOUNGSTOWN — A former union president fired by Youngstown State University in July has asked Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to overturn a university ruling barring him from campus.

Ivan Maldonado, 41, of Boardman had applied for admission to YSU as a student this fall and was admitted but never allowed to register for any classes, said Helen Trapp, labor-relations consultant for the 400-member Association of Classified Employees union, of which Maldonado was president until the end of August.

The university shut off Maldonado’s access to its student Web site, Trapp said, and then informed him it would conduct a hearing regarding his ability to come onto campus.

After that hearing, the university issued Maldonado a “No Trespass Letter” Aug. 28, informing him that he is prohibited from entering any university-owned or controlled property and warning him that a violation of that ruling would result in his arrest for trespassing.

Maldonado filed a notice of appeal of that ruling this week in common pleas court, asking that it be overturned. A copy of the “No Trespass Letter” was made an exhibit to the filing.

The university declined to comment on the matter.

Maldonado was fired by the university July 6 on charges of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance in the performance of his duties in the payroll office as well as allegations of threats made against other university employees.

He had already been on paid administrative leave and barred from campus for four months after another ACE union member filed a complaint with campus police claiming that Maldonado had threatened her in a March 10 telephone call.

He was arrested in that case near the beginning of April on a misdemeanor count of menacing and faces an October trial date in municipal court.

In his appeal notice, Maldonado said he was admitted as a YSU student this fall and that the university failed to comply with state law regarding the procedures and time limits regarding the hearing that resulted in the “No Trespass Letter” that prevents him from attending classes.

Specifically, his court filing said the hearing didn’t take place within five days of Maldonado’s arrest as required by law, the hearing panel did not include any attorney not affiliated with the university as required by law, the panel consisted of three university employees, and Maldonado wasn’t given any opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.

The ACE union has filed grievances against the university over Maldonado’s firing, charging that the university violated terms of its union contract and seeking Maldonado’s reinstatement.

gwin@vindy.com