Ollie Discrimination Lawsuit

[Madmannsucks]

What I like about this thread vs the other 2344 threads is everyone has opened their minds and completely reversed their opinions of KO. Calling this a "scumbag move". Really? He told them he was keeping this on the table, but had until yesterday to file or lose that right. Uconn would not agree to extend the deadline. While some just want him to be a good soldier and go away, that is not how almost all of us would react.

 

[UconnFanDC]

I'm going to cashapp him 1.5 million for his bills and to take a trip so we can be done with this. Ollie come'on. Sheeees

 

[intlzncster]

No the lack of any settlement offer is what "escalated this".

What is the background on that? Do you have a specific timeline of events?

 

[Husky pride]

Sad. I always supported Kevin and , although I recognize these tactics stem from his lawyers—he had to agree to them— and I’m very disappointed in him. Whether he succeeds in arbitration or not, he’s not exactly walking away financially abused as evidenced by his recent 2.5M sale of his Connecticut home. I still wish him well but he’s lost my respect.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Well we agree. But over and over I hear this is all on Ollie. That is not the case in my opinion.

Agree here too.

It's not all on Ollie and some of the takes here on race warrant the more nuanced takes you've offered.

I still wish they'd settle, but I do think that KO is seeking more than is warranted.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Burning bridges on the way out of town. Will be very hard to see him in a positive light after this.

Lost all respect for KO.

 

[intlzncster]

Wasn’t Miller already gone when he went rat?

I’m not so much defending Ollie - this is just what happens to a broke athletic department.

Everywhere else they just pay him to go away - hell they paid DIACO to go away.

Calhoun got away with worse and Diaco got paid.

Ollie they used a rat to try to fire him with cause - we know it’s because they have no money - but the white guys got treated differently - debating that just shows a bias.

Plenty of schools go for cause when there is really 'slim' reason to do so. (see big time programs like FL football a few years back).

 

[JMick]

Plenty of schools go for cause when there is really 'slim' reason to do so. (see big time programs like FL football a few years back).

ours wasn't even bad when you look at what passes for cause across the country

 

[ConnHuskBask]

What an incredible fall from grace.

Guy had the college hoop world by the balls and 4 years later is friviously playing the race card against his Alma mater.

 

[The Viking]

Don't pay him a penny. He sucked at his job, violated his contract and lied to the NCAA. He's already banked upwards of 20-30 mil from the NBA and UConn.

For those of you who are weepy for him, please.....Cry for the sad sack who is actually good at his job, makes 30-40K a year and just got laid off while he has 2-3 young kids at home.

Not another dime.

 

[BlueMAB]

Not saying he was fired because he was black. Saying he was treated more harshly than other non black coaches. I predicted this months ago. It looked so obvious to me.

It was obvious to anyone paying attention. I don't know how anyone could be surprised at this.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I think it is pretty easy to show he was treated differently than his white predecessor who had many and in some cases more serious violations. It is not like JC's contract allowed him to break rules repeatedly..

In fact, JC's contract did allow him to break rules repeatedly. KO's did too.

There was nothing in their contracts requiring the school to take disciplinary action in response to violations. The contract allowed UConn, at their discretion, to terminate for cause if certain criteria were satisfied.

They chose not to for JC, they did for KO, and anyone with a pulse knows it had nothing to do with race. A contract is a contract, and it matters zero how they treated anyone else.

 

[whaler11]

Plenty of schools go for cause when there is really 'slim' reason to do so. (see big time programs like FL football a few years back).

He got like 2/3rds of his cash. 7.5 out of 12+.

 

[BlueMAB]

Ollie and his attorneys have been seeking for several months to file a complaint of race discrimination with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or in the courts. However, he claims that UConn is preventing him from doing so, based on a provision in the collective bargaining agreement between Ollie’s union and the school that would allow UConn to end its current arbitration proceedings with Ollie if he took that route.

With that in mind, and the fact the statute of limitations for filing a discrimination case with the CHRO was on Monday, Ollie is seeking an emergency injunction in U.S. District Court to continue to allow him to take such a measure, according to documents filed by Ollie’s lawyer, Todd Steigman, from the firm of Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau in Hartford.

Document: UConn not allowing Kevin Ollie to pursue racial discrimination claim

Not a lawyer, but if i'm reading this correctly, and it's accurate, he can't have it both ways. The collective bargaining agreement precludes him from using his union to go through arbitration while filing a discrimination suit.

Offer him $1 million and a non-disclosure if he withdraws the suit and arbitration. Fair price to pay to make this all go away. I have some (admittedly very limited) experience with EEOC suits, but they can take forever, and seem to give the benefit of doubt to the employee. I'm fully prepared to be corrected on that if I'm wrong and someone has more professional experience in that arena.

 

[BlueMAB]

In fact, JC's contract did allow him to break rules repeatedly. KO's did too.

There was nothing in their contracts requiring the school to take disciplinary action in response to violations. The contract allowed UConn, at their discretion, to terminate for cause if certain criteria were satisfied.

They chose not to for JC, they did for KO, and anyone with a pulse knows it had nothing to do with race. A contract is a contract, and it matters zero how they treated anyone else.

I agree with you, however, I don't think the EEOC will agree. Their opinion is likely the only one that matters now.

 

[BlueMAB]

FWIW - he was treated differently than Calhoun for violations that pale in comparison.

I doubt it’s because he is black - but he was treated very differently.

Note Diaco was worse and got his money....

Welcome back! The board is better with you here, despite what everyone else says.

FWIW - Diaco wasn't pegged for violations (who cheats to beat out Lafayette for kids?). So there's at least an argument to be made that UConn couldn't treat him the same.

Edit: Ollie will have to focus on Calhoun, (and any other coaches who committed violations at UConn - if there are any).

 

[BlueMAB]

So if Uconn loses, I wonder if they have insurance to pay this vs Uconn?

I'd be shocked if they didn't have insurance, which definitely covers the defense costs. I doubt it would cover the full $10MM were UConn to lose. Maybe a portion of it. Which brings up an important point. Assuming they do have insurance, UConn can't force the insurance company to settle unless UConn is willing to forego the policy and pay the costs out of pocket. There could be negotiations between UConn and the insurance company to both kick in money if the company thinks they will likely lose.

 

[Jaker]

Seriously, why are these threads still being created and posted??

 

[whaler11]

Welcome back! The board is better with you here, despite what everyone else says.

FWIW - Diaco wasn't pegged for violations (who cheats to beat out Lafayette for kids?). So there's at least an argument to be made that UConn couldn't treat him the same.

Edit: Ollie will have to focus on Calhoun, (and any other coaches who committed violations at UConn - if there are any).

Every football and basketball program in the country has violations like Ollie’s. If someone wanted to find some triffling violations with Diaco it would probably take an hour.

Why didn’t someone go dig those up to save 5 million?

 

[Northbound]

He's managing his legal team and their "strategy" like he handled the team the past few years - why is anyone surprised.

Just goofiness.

 

[JMick]

Seriously, why are these threads still being created and posted??

because they're relevant to UConn?

 

[BlueMAB]

So let us clear something up. He is not saying he was fired because of his race, but treated differently than someone not of his race. Someone with more and as serious or more serious than his> Hard one to defend.

Sounds like semantics. His "treatment" was being fired, whereas Calhoun wasn't. You didn't clear anything up here.

What he’s unintentionally doing is making it less likely that more minority coaches get hired in the future. Other schools will see cases like this and not want to take the litigation risk.

Smart move. You can't be racist if you don't hire black people.

Seriously, why are these threads still being created and posted??

Because people want to talk about it? If you don't fit that description, why open the thread?

 

[Jaker]

because they're relevant to UConn?

no, it's called move along children. Everyone knows the entire Ollie situation is FUBAR. There is no reason to keep creating new threads every week, especially whennothing of value comes from it.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Sounds like semantics. His "treatment" was being fired, whereas Calhoun wasn't. You didn't clear anything up here.


Smart move. You can't be racist if you don't hire black people.


Because people want to talk about it? If you don't fit that description, why open the thread?

I think people are saying he was fired because he is black. Sounds like they have a minimal understanding of his allegations. That is not what his suit is saying. Saying you are treated differently is not semantics. You do not have to be a lawyer to understand the difference. If JC had been fired for example, Ollie would have no case.

 

[BlueMAB]

no, it's called move along children. Everyone knows the entire Ollie situation is FUBAR. There is no reason to keep creating new threads every week, especially whennothing of value comes from it.

Oh yes, you're definitely the adult in the room telling everyone what they should and shouldn't discuss. It's not like this story is mentioned on the front page of ESPN.com or anything.