A Butler County jury ruled against a former Slippery Rock University supervisor who filed a lawsuit against the school claiming civil rights violations and the government's whistle-blower protection.

The civil verdict, which was delivered Friday, ruled against Timothy J. Carney in both an age discrimination claim as well as the whistle-blower act claim, following a weeklong trial before county Judge Marilyn Horan.

The lawsuit was filed in early 2012 by Carney, alleging that SRU administrators violated his free speech rights when two SRU employees — Scott Albert, the director of facilities, and Robert Smith, the former president — engaged in age discrimination against him at the university, denied him a “pretermination hearing” after firing him, and fired him in retaliation for exposing irresponsible spending at SRU — a firing Carney claims violated the government's whistle-blower act, which gives certain protections to employees who expose wrongdoing by their employers.

Albert and Smith were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Carney, who is in his 50s, was hired in 1985 and in 2011 when he was fired, served as SRU's director of maintenance services and project manager.

According to the lawsuit, Carney claims the firing was in retaliation for reporting what he says was irresponsible expenses on overseas travel and office decor for Smith, as well as for “public beautification projects” at SRU.

In the lawsuit, Carney calls the spending a “misuse of funds” and says it exposed the university to “financial vulnerability.”

The lawsuit also claims that Carney's firing followed a pattern of age discrimination carried out by Albert, who would “routinely assign Carney unrealistic job goals, and publicly berate,” him in front of other employees before ultimately firing him.

Carney's lawsuit also claims that SRU administrators denied him a “pretermination hearing” before his firing in 2011.

Attorney James Lieber, Carney's lawyer, said there were “a good many witnesses and documents shown to the jury” during the trial, with fact witnesses and an expert witness on damages from the plaintiff, as well as testimony from Carney.

Lieber said appeal of the decision is under consideration, but no determination has been made at this time.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Thomas Donahoe Jr., who represented the university, could not be reached for comment.