Jerry “Trey” Falwell III has sued Liberty University in Lynchburg, accusing the school of breaking a 15-year employment contract after it fired him in April 2021. The complaint says he should still be paid under an agreement that ran through June 2030.

That claim is now the focus because Falwell says the university owes him continued payments totaling $1.75 million. The contract, signed in January 2016 by Falwell and his father, guaranteed an $88,000 salary, 5% annual raises, a $600 monthly car allowance, free tuition and other benefits, according to the complaint. His pay was later raised to $220,000 in 2017.

Liberty University said the lawsuit is without merit and that it will vigorously defend the case. Falwell, a member of the family that has long been tied to the school, is now pressing the argument that his firing was without cause and triggered the rest of the contract.

The dispute lands at a familiar institution with a fraught family history. Founded by Jerry Falwell Sr. in 1971, Liberty has grown into one of the largest Christian schools in the country, and the Falwell family has clashed with it before. Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned in 2020 after years of scandal, and Jonathan Falwell remains the chancellor.

Liberty’s finances also loom over the case. The school reported $1.3 billion in revenue, a $249 million budget surplus and $2.9 billion in net assets for the fiscal year ending June 2020. For now, the sharpest unanswered question is the one the school has not explained publicly: what specific reason it gave for firing Trey Falwell in April 2021. Liberty has said it will spell out its position in court.