Former UT president John W. Shumaker, who resigned in August 2003 surrounding allegations of financial scandal, says that the UT system still owes him nearly a half million dollars in severance.

Shumaker’s attorney, Dan Warlick, filed a claim last Thursday with the Tennessee Division of Claims Administration for breach-of-contract. Warlick claims that the University has not followed through with its word.

The University of Tennessee system consists of over 50,000 students on five campuses.

The University refused to comment on the matter, but Chancellor Nick Dunagan said concerning Shumaker’s rehashing, “I was amazed. Former president Shumaker would be best served to move forward in life, which would be good for him and for UT.”

Shumaker, 62, resigned because of intense pressure from the Board of Trustees over extravagant waste of taxpayer money, including multiple charters of private airplanes, expensive personal parties, and a $4,822 gas grill. Last year trustees voted unanimously to pay Shumaker the severance package at the urging of Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. Now, the trustees are retracting their previous vote.

The board’s rationale in initially approving the severance was monetary benefit; the board allegedly would have saved over one million in contract buyouts by paying the $422,956 lump-sum. The six-year contract buyout could have been as much as $1.7 million.

After state auditors revealed that Shumaker may have broken as many as four state laws, including fudging figures to cover up a hotel stay in Texas, Bredesen and the board changed their minds.

Following the result of the audit, the board immediately rescinded the severance payment. But Knox county District Attorney General Randy Nichols says that Shumaker has been cleared of all charges.

$242,000 of the package would come from public taxpayer funds.