Ollie Discrimination Lawsuit

[Yardigan]

I loved coach Ollie from 5 minutes into that Michigan State opener until about 3 minutes ago. I'm a bit appalled him and his lawyers are playing that card. All he had to do was place nice at the negoatiating table and he would have walked away with something and could have pivoted to a nice assistant coaching job in the NBA. Now he's reaching and i mean reeeeaching. Not only is it completely asinine but a poor reflection of character. Really sad how this had to unfold. Man this is bumming me out. Thanks for 2014 coach, but racial discrimination??!? And comparing your leave to the great calhoun SOLELY based on skin color. Geez Louise. Lost for words right now.

Woulda been way more surprised if he didn't play that card. Haven't been following that closely, but was kinda surprised it hadn't already been played.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I had a posted deleted and was given a “violation” at the beginning of this when I said “wait til he plays the race card.”

 

[UChusky916]

This is essentially KO's last attempt of throwing $}{!T on the wall and seeing what sticks.... last gasp.

Thanks for the championship, but good riddance, dude. Sad he had to drag race into it.

 

[August_West]

I had a posted deleted and was given a “violation” at the beginning of this when I said “wait til he plays the race card.”

Well you were right, and kudos for that.


But that is a dumb thing to speculate about beforehand. It can go 100 ways wrong and only one way right. You happened to hit the one way right in hindsight. Mods not wrong for playing the odds there back then.

 

[JMick]

This is a lousy thing to do. Have to think he knows he's not going to win in arbitration. He shouldn't be invited back to campus ever again. Bridge has been fully burned.

 

[huskymedic]

He’s been posturing this way since the beginning - as it draws to an end, he (they) don’t like the “rules” they agreed to when executing his Contract.


>>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.<<

 

[Pgh2Storrs]

The whole thing is just sad. It's sad that its come to this, it's sad that he is resorting to this...that's the only word that fits at this time.

The day he finally gets put up in the Huskies of Honor and gets his due recognition is looking more unlikely, if not impossible.

 

[BFieldHusky]

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

 

[Stainmaster]

I'm KO guy, and he was done wrong, no doubt about it.

But Racial Discrimination?

Im not seeing it. At all.

It's a dumb card to play. I can't support it.

Especially frustrating for those who do think this is a serious issue when it exists. This suit does a disservice to the fight against actual discrimination in college athletics. I don’t want a future case where someone actually was treated unfairly on account of their race to be weakened/trivialized by the frivolousness of this case.

 

[djct1999]

This isn't sad, its pathetic.

 

[Scot-e]

He just going for more $$$-that part I get- but to bring race into it points to him being unstable. Ridiculous.

 

[JMick]

Especially frustrating for those who do think this is a serious issue when it exists. This suit does a disservice to the fight against actual discrimination in college athletics. I don’t want a future case where someone actually was treated unfairly on account of their race to be weakened/trivialized by the frivolousness of this case.

Exactly. This isn't just a crappy move to pull, it's a means to undermine something that people fought very hard for.

 

[gioff2323]

Well you were right, and kudos for that.


But that is a dumb thing to speculate about beforehand. It can go 100 ways wrong and only one way right. You happened to hit the one way right in hindsight. Mods not wrong for playing the odds there back then.

Those odds would be realistic ONLY if u believed he’d win on the merits of wrongful termination. Otherwise, odds were significantly higher; likely approaching near certainty.

He’s like Schwarzenegger walking out of an exploding building. He’s left himself no way back

 

[Towney007]

The truth always has a way of revealing itself.

That's the guy who was running a college basketball program for the past few years.

 

[Towney007]

Exactly. This isn't just a crappy move to pull, it's a means to undermine something that people fought very hard for.

Dragging Calhoun through it is crackers.

 

[huskyinfl]

This dude's really gunning for the new moniker "he shall who not be named" instead of KO

 

[huskymedic]

Dragging Calhoun through it is crackers.

Ummmm.... could you have you used crazy/nuts/ridiculous instead?

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

Woulda been way more surprised if he didn't play that card. Haven't been following that closely, but was kinda surprised it hadn't already been played.

Agreed, I mean it's obviously a desperation move. But from a morality standpoint I had always looked up to KO, I think that type of finger pointing is kind of beneath him. If he had performed on the court he wouldn't have been fired, but he didn't and now he is, simple as that. Essentially it's doing something that will tarnish his UConn ties forever (not that, that was in a super positive light to begin with as of recent). Sigh. Is it what it is I suppose.

 

[Robertelamin]

He’s 12 toes into this fiasco now.

 

[Ajs120102]

We all agree UConn should have paid him at least something? He won a national championship. However, racial discrimination brings it to a level where UConn should just say bleep it and not pay him. It’s such a ridiculous claim

 

[HooperScooper]

Ollie's attorneys are grasping at whatever straws they can because they know this is a lost cause. But to use the race card in this instance is pretty low. It's despicable.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Ollie knows he wasn't fired because he's black. But it's the most convenient argument to make. This also isn't surprising in the least. The original complaint was based on race, this suit was virtually inevitable.

Edit: Ollie violated his contract. The fact that UConn treated him differently than Calhoun is easily defended by the way the NCAA treats UConn different from virtually every other program.

Name the other programs that were punished a second time based on new rules/requirements that were applied retroactively? I'll wait.

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.

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

On a side note I wonder if there's any escalators in the courthouse.

 

[jibsey]

What if he put the racial aspect aside? Which he should have done, but did Calhoun have the same or worse violations that were not acted on by UCONN? Just wondering.

 

[whaler11]

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....