UCLA, Wake Forest University engaged in legal battle over primate research colony

UCLA and Wake Forest University Health Sciences are currently engaged in a legal battle over the alleged financial mismanagement of a research primate colony located in North Carolina.

Last December, Wake Forest, a private university in North Carolina, filed a lawsuit against UCLA on the grounds that UCLA had not been holding up its end of the financial obligations to maintain operations of the colony and its research center. In response, the University of California Board of Regents filed a counter lawsuit on behalf of UCLA last month, claiming that Wake Forest breached the terms of the agreement. The UC Regents also asked that Wake Forest’s lawsuit against UCLA be dismissed.

The Wake Forest University Primate Center, which was established six years ago, studies diseases that have a significant impact on public health, according to the Wake Forest School of Medicine website.

At the center, reseachers conduct studies with a colony of 475 vervet monkeys, small primates that are indigenous to Africa. Many of the monkeys in the colony, however, came from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.

In 2007, UCLA and Wake Forest established a 10-year agreement to share the responsibilities of funding and maintaining the primate colony, located in Forsyth County, N.C., according to the Wake Forest lawsuit.

UCLA allegedly agreed to contribute $200,000 per year for the first five years to pay for operating expenses, as well as to split the costs of any budget deficits at the end of each fiscal year, according to the Wake Forest lawsuit.

Tensions between the two schools started when Dr. Edward Abraham, dean of the Wake Forest School of Medicine, sent a letter in March 2012 to UCLA stating that Wake Forest did not have enough funds to continue operations, according to the court documents.

The lawsuit also states that the reason for the shortage of funds was that Wake Forest was unable to secure necessary funding for its research efforts because UCLA continuously objected to its projects.

Wake Forest stated in the lawsuit that it was depending on these projected additional funds to help support the colony and research center.

The UC Regents, however, alleged in their counter lawsuit that Wake Forest was conducting research that they had no knowledge of, breaching the term in their agreement that both parties will have full disclosure on the center’s research projects.

The UC Regents also claimed that Wake Forest entered into “side agreements” with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which had previously held legal rights over the colony before its transfer to North Carolina, without UCLA’s knowledge or consent. The UC Regents also claimed that Wake Forest officials declined to elaborate on these agreements when UCLA officials asked about them.

Because of the lack of funds, Abraham then allegedly proposed in July that the title and funding obligation over the colony be transferred to UCLA, to which UCLA replied it needed 60 days to decide, according to the Wake Forest lawsuit.

But after two months of trying to contact UCLA with no response, Wake Forest allegedly sent a letter in September stating the agreement between the two universities was terminated. Wake Forest also asked for $330,287 to cover half the year’s budget deficit, which was reportedly part of the two universities’ agreement. Wake Forest states in its lawsuit that because of UCLA’s objections to the center’s research projects and its refusal to pay the requested half of the fiscal year’s budget deficit, the research center continues to face a severe lack of funds.

UCLA, however, allegedly did not pay the demanded amount and maintained that their agreement was still intact.

Both sides attempted to negotiate in the months leading up to last December, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

In their lawsuit, Wake Forest officials stated that they want their agreement with UCLA be terminated and for UCLA to bear the costs of the lawsuit and pay the $330,287 as agreed upon in the contract, plus damages dealt by its alleged breach of the contract.

In particular, Wake Forest expressed concerns that it would not have the funds to support the colony while the case is still in progress and threatens to shut down the facility if additional funding is not received, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

UCLA is asking for at least $75,000 in compensation for what it believes was financial mismanagement of the research center by Wake Forest.

UCLA also states in its lawsuit that Wake Forest did not allow them to conduct an audit of the center’s financial records, which would constitute a breach in the universities’ agreement.

Wake Forest filed a motion March 1 to have UCLA’s counter lawsuit dismissed.

Both UCLA and Wake Forest officials declined to comment on the lawsuits.