Timeline: Wine’s involvement with WSU
2005 — Wright State University President David Hopkins says a round of military base closings in 2005 moved more research to Wright-Patterson AFB. "We had this billion-dollar enterprise (Wright-Patterson AFB) sitting right next to us here and a very small percentage of those research dollars were staying in Ohio. So we said 'let's go for it.' "
2009 — Ron Wine's consulting firm is hired as a part of an effort to attract more government funding and contracts to Wright State. His firm's pay is $6,000 a month.
2013 — This newspaper begins requesting documents about Wine's agreement with WSU. The university responds by providing highly redacted (blacked out) documents.
July 24, 2015 — Wine emails Hopkins in reference to his pay, arguing that getting 5 percent of what he brings in to WSU is not a commission, "but rather a performance based workload parameter that we informally agreed to some time ago."
October 2015 — Wright State releases to this newspaper university records showing payment arrangements with Wine that grew steadily, from $6,000 in 2009 to up to $84,000 a month.
November 2015 — Wine emails Hopkins to prep him for a meeting with Ohio Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger, outlining talking points on how to secure state funding for a presidential debate scheduled to be held at WSU. "Playing the inside game, I also suggest you let him know the Friends of WSU would like to organize a major fundraiser for his campaign and House Leadership in Dayton in 2016."
Nov. 15, 2015 — This newspaper publishes a story outlining Wine's relationship with Wright State, including the signing of a contract in May 2014 that would allow Wine's firm to bill the university up to $1 million annually through mid-2019. Wright State's total bill from Wine, since 2009, totals $1,995,570.
Nov. 22, 2015 — This newspaper publishes a story outlining how a state law intended to increase lobbying oversight has had little impact. "When I read the (Dayton Daily News) story, it appeared that this individual, Mr. Wine, was lobbying," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. "But quite frankly we don't want to make a judgment until we've done the investigation."
January 2016 — Wright State suspends payments to Wine while authorities investigate whether the school's contract with Wine violated state lobbying laws.
Feb. 26, 2016 — Ohio Attorney General's office announces that it found no evidence that Wine or Wright State broke any lobbying laws or engaged in pay-to-play politics. The AG's office said it had to rely on public records and voluntary compliance by Wine in its investigation. State Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, calls the lack of oversight on Wine's contract "a failing of the system that calls out for reform."
Sept. 15, 2016 — Wine sues Wright State, alleges breach of contract. He is seeking $4.53 million that he contends is still owed under a contract he had with the university, plus interest, costs and attorney's fees.
A former consultant for Wright State University who was the subject of a Dayton Daily News investigation into his contract with the university is suing the school for more than $4.5 million for compensation he says is still owed to him.
Ron Wine is suing Wright State and its research arm, Wright State Applied Research Corp., because they “failed to make payments under the compensation agreement” with him and his company, Ron Wine Consulting Group LLC, according to a complaint filed Thursday in Greene County Common Pleas Court.
Wine alleges breach of contract and is seeking $4.53 million that he contends he is still owed under a contract he had with the university, plus interest, costs and attorney’s fees.
The lawsuit comes at a time when the university is struggling to balance its budget, having shed 20 full-time jobs and 28 interns from Wright State Applied Research Corp. since June.
State Rep. Niraj Antani, R-Miami Twp., said the lawsuit is another distraction from the university’s core mission of student success: “There are a lot of issues that need to be sorted out. For the sake of the students, I hope that’s happening.”
Antani praised the leadership of WSU’s trustees, but he said it would be wise to consider new leadership for WSU. President David Hopkins is slated to retire in June.
“I’m not telling President Hopkins to delay or speed up his retirement, but certainly new leadership at the university would be good,” Antani said.
Paid $2M since 2009
A Dayton Daily News investigation in November found that Wright State paid Ron Wine Consulting Group nearly $2 million since 2009 — including almost $1 million in 2014, when he had no formal contract in effect — and had entered into a contract allowing him to bill up to $1 million a year.
In return, Wine was expected to offer strategic advice on developing WSU’s research funding and secure millions of dollars in state and federal funding.
An investigation launched by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine into the deal found no evidence that Wine or the university broke any lobbying laws or engaged in pay-to-play politics. Wine didn't have to register as a lobbyist because he didn't spend more than 5 percent of his time lobbying, according to the findings.
DeWine noted in his findings that he had to rely on public records from Wright State and voluntary compliance by Wine because his office lacks the ability to issue subpoenas to investigate violations of lobbying law.
“From 2009-2016, Ron Wine worked tirelessly for WSU and achieved record growth for WSU and secured record breaking funding and contracts which WSU had never come close to realizing in previous years,” Wine’s complaint states. “Over his tenure, Wine’s company’s efforts directly led to securing $134.73 million in new federal and state contracts for WSU, its affiliates and subcontractors.
“For many years, WSU and its president, David Hopkins, stuck to their word and paid Wine the five percent performance-based bonus they had agreed to,” the lawsuit states.
Wine’s suit said he proposed an “installment payment plan” to Wright State to “ease the university’s burden in paying” what he says the university owes.
“But the university has refused to make any further payment to Wine in any fashion,” according to the suit. “In fact, they have taken steps to discount (Ron Wine Consulting Group’s) efforts” for the university. WSU suspended payments to Wine in January while authorities investigated his relationship with the university.
A Wright State spokesman said the university would have no comment Friday. Earlier this year, the university denied that a 5-percent performance bonus was ever pledged to Wine.
“At first, Wright State retained the Ron Wine Consulting (RWCG) group at a flat monthly rate,” WSU said in a statement to the Dayton Daily News in January. “As the scope of the work clearly began to expand, the parties agreed to an hourly-rate contract.
“Ron Wine did propose a payment guide based on a 5 percent workload level. Subsequent contracts have been based solely on hourly compensation. The firm was not compensated based on percentage commission, nor did President Hopkins authorize it in an informal agreement.”
Probe: No wrongdoing
Wine’s lawsuit said he was paid $2.2 million in performance bonuses, but the university stopped paying him after the state lobbying investigation, which “ultimately found no wrongdoing on the part of Wine,” the complaint says.
Two state probes into the university and its relationship with Wine found no evidence that Wine or the university broke lobbying laws or engaged in pay-to-play politics, state officials said in February.
Messages seeking comment were left for Wine and his Dayton attorney, Kenneth Ignozzi.
When asked Friday about Wine’s lawsuit, Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, who is a Wright State University graduate, declined to comment.
The Dayton Daily News detailed two emails between Wine and Hopkins in which Wine advised Hopkins how to ask Rosenberger for state money and offer to host a political fundraiser. That prompted Rosenberger to ask for an ethics investigation.
Last year, Rosenberger told his fellow lawmakers to use caution when dealing with Wright State.
Staff Writer Laura A. Bischoff and Josh Sweigart contributed to this story.
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