CLEVELAND, Ga. — Truett McConnell University has moved to dismiss a lawsuit brought by its former president, Emir Caner, over his dismissal last September.
The TMU motion argues that the university’s decision to fire Caner cannot be legally challenged because it was partly based on ecclesiastical, or religious, issues beyond the reach of a secular court.
Caner was fired from the small Christian college in Cleveland, Georgia, on September 25, 2025, after the university’s board of trustees commissioned an outside investigation into a sex scandal involving former TMU Vice President Bradley Reynolds’ alleged rape and sexual manipulation of Hayle Swinson, a former TMU student and staff member.
Caner delayed action, investigator found
According to the University’s dismissal notice, outside investigator Richard Hyde found that Caner failed to act against Reynolds in a timely fashion after being informed of Reynolds’ alleged misdeeds, the new legal motion reveals. The Board, which voted 19-9 to dismiss Caner for cause, had not previously released its termination letter to Caner, but it appears in TMU’s new brief.
In Caner’s original complaint, his attorney cited a long list of Caner’s positive accomplishments on behalf of TMU, then wrote:
“Caner’s pristine record as TMU’s president for over a decade received its first blemish on February 6, 2025, when Marcia G. Shein [Hayle Swinson’s attorney] wrote a letter to the Board accusing Caner of mismanaging sexual misconduct allegations previously made by students against two former Truett McConnell employees in 2021: Academic Services Vice President Bradley Reynolds and a professor.
The trustees fired Caner about eight months later, after the investigation concluded and Hyde presented his findings to the Board.
RELATED Inside sources offer conflicting accounts of TMU’s handling of Reynolds allegations
Reynolds trial for lying is pending
Reynolds’ own felony criminal trial for allegedly lying to the White County sheriff about his relationship with Swinson is pending in White County Superior Court, with no trial date yet announced. Reynolds’ attorneys filed a “demurrer” in June, saying the district attorney or grand jury alleged no legitimate crime.
TMU’s new dismissal motion says: “Because one of the stated causes for Caner’s termination squarely implicates an ecclesiastical issue, which the Court cannot reach, Canner [sic] cannot prevail even if Caner demonstrated that the secular causes for his termination were fabricated or impermissible.”
In his lawsuit, Caner’s attorneys name several seemingly secular causes for TMU’s decision, but TMU’s attorneys—Russell Britt, Pearson Cunningham, and Veronica Skelton of the Georgia offices of national law firm Hall Booth Smith, P.C.- said that the court cannot interfere with a decision reached even partially on the basis of Baptist Church doctrine.
‘Caner failed to uphold a biblical model of family’
The legal filing continues: “Caner was terminated for, among other reasons, failing to ‘adhere to the Core Values of TMU outlined in the Policy Manual by failing to uphold a biblical model of family, a missional community, and authentic relationships,’” quoting from the Board of Trustees termination letter to Caner.
The termination letter told Caner: “You failed to properly apprise and duly inform the Board of Dr. Brad Reynolds’ inappropriate relationship with Hayle Swinson, and Ms. Swinson’s accusation of rape against Dr. Reynolds that was being investigated by the White County Sheriff at the time of Dr. Reynolds’ separation of employment…”
“Your negligent actions in the performance of your duties as President and the dereliction of your duties as noted above constitute breaches of your obligations under 2.3 (D) (5) of the Agreement as violations of the [TMU] Policy Manual, this Agreement, and the standards applicable to TMU as a Christian institution of higher learning.”
The lengthy Policy Manual is also appended to the TMU filing, seemingly to support its argument that University policy is based in religious doctrine.
TMU cites biblical verses in its motion
The motion to dismiss cites multiple biblical verses from Ephesians, Philippians, Matthew, John, and Genesis to support its position that the termination is beyond the court’s reach. Citing earlier cases, the motion argues, “…taking jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical issue is ‘prohibited by the First Amendment, applicable to the courts of Georgia by the Fourteenth Amendment…’” It continues: ”[i]n order to safeguard the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, religious bodies must have the power to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine.”’
Attorneys decline comment
Caner’s attorney, Andrew Y. Coffman of Parks, Chesin & Walbert in Atlanta, declined in an Aug. 17 email to comment on the case and also declined Now Georgia’s request to interview Caner.
One of TMU’S attorneys, Pearson Cunningham, also declined comment by email on Monday.
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