Food services vendor sues flagging Ohio Valley University | News, Sports, Jobs

PARKERSBURG — A vendor has sued Ohio Valley University, seeking nearly $97,000 for opening costs and food services provided.

It’s the second time in two years a company has sued the struggling private school for not paying its bills.

According to a complaint filed Monday in Wood County Circuit Court, Hallmark Management Service Inc. entered a dining services agreement with OVU in July 2020 to manage the school’s food and beverage services for five years. As part of the agreement, OVU was to pay $38,086 in opening costs, amortized over the five-year period.

Addendums in 2021 included an agreement that OVU would make an advance payment of $75,000 at the start of the semester and the ability of Hallmark to immediately cancel the arrangement due to late payments.

The school fell behind in payments in September, the complaint says. In December, OVU informed Hallmark the school would be closing.

The lawsuit says OVU owes $68,684.45 for food and beverage services and $28,314 for opening costs.

Facing complaints over its failure to compensate employees and inability to provide academic transcripts due to computer server issues, along with ongoing financial challenges, Ohio Valley University announced in early December it would not be offering classes this spring. That same week, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission voted to revoke the school’s ability to confer degrees.

In 2020, a Wood County Circuit Court judge awarded a $1.2 million judgment against the college to Aladdin Food Management Services LLC, which said the college was delinquent in its payments. The award included the money owed, plus more than $15,000 in attorney’s fees.

OVU President Michael Ross, who did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday, said at that time the school had made efforts to reduce its debt but had been unable to erase it before closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OVU was committed to paying the debt, he said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at [email protected].