A former University of Kentucky College of Dentistry faculty member claims he was fired in retaliation for voicing critical comments about Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed Medicaid waiver.
"What I experienced has no place in our state or our land grant university," Dr. Raynor Mullins said Wednesday, after filing suit in U.S. District Court in Lexington.
A 40-year veteran at UK, Mullins alleges that College of Dentistry Dean Stephanos Kykanides warned him against issuing comments on the Republican's recommended changes to Kentucky's Medicaid expansion. When Mullins proceeded, the complaint alleges Kyrkanides received a call from someone in the Governor’s Office – identified in the suit only as “John Doe” – expressing Bevin's displeasure with Mullins’ stance. On January 17, the longtime UK employee says he received notice of his termination.
"We believe Dr. Mullins was targeted," says attorney Joe Childers. "He was clearly the spearhead of the comments, which... were signed on to by four of his distinguished colleagues."
Childers says Mullins was alone in feeling the heat because the others were retired, tenured, or employed by Veterans Affairs.
In a statement to WUKY, Bevin spokesperson Amanda Stamper responded: “Neither Governor Bevin, nor anybody else in the Governor’s office, knows the plaintiff or has any knowledge about the allegations detailed in the media’s coverage of this case. We doubt it’s a coincidence that both the plaintiff and his lawyer are political donors and supporters of Steve and Andy Beshear.”
A UK spokesman says the university has yet to receive the complaint and has no comment at this time.
The judge in Mullins' case will set a timeline. Childers says federal court cases often take a year or more to make it to trial.
