Pernetti chucks Rutgers under the bus

[upstater]

So, to be clear you think Pernetti's statement that the University had a process and involved HR and lawyers is a lie? And he acting alone did all this, and was the only one that knew about the video?

I think it's a lie that he wanted Rice fired and was stopped by HR. Yes, absolutely. An outright lie.

 

[upstater]

I think upstater is saying that the decision was Pernetti's and not HR. IMO and probably upstater's, he used the "process" including HR in case of blow back as a CYA move.

Exactly.

 

[ctchamps]

Check out this link found by HobokonHusky which are the findings of the legal consul. In these findings they stated Rice crossed the lines. Pernetti and the Pres. did not take legal consul into consideration. Pages 27-34 deal with this issue!

http://www.app.com/assets/pdf/B320344045.PDF

 

[Fishy]

Rutgers was invited to the Big Ten on November 19th.

In reading though that 'outside counsel' report, it looks like the tape was provided to Pernetti on November 26th. (Murdoch says that he didn't take any of his concerns to Pernetti prior to that.) Rice was then suspended on December 14th.

I know we'd love to find something juicy in the way of a coverup here, but unless I'm missing something, the timelines don't really add up.

As for Murdoch, he's not a whistleblower, he's something of a legal extortion artist.

 

[stick]

Rutgers was invited to the Big Ten on November 19th.

In reading though that 'outside counsel' report, it looks like the tape was provided to Pernetti on November 26th. (Murdoch says that he didn't take any of his concerns to Pernetti prior to that.) Rice was then suspended on December 14th.

I know we'd love to find something juicy in the way of a coverup here, but unless I'm missing something, the timelines don't really add up.

As for Murdoch, he's not a whistleblower, he's something of a legal extortion artist.

Agreed on Murdock. But if the timeline above is accurate, how the hell does Pernetti think Rice deserved another year? Pernetti really might not be the smartest guy in the world because if he had just fired Rice after the season had ended, he might have saved his own job. Pernetti was still sticking up for Rice all the way until the video surfaced to the general public.

 

[Fishy]

Agreed on Murdock. But if the timeline above is accurate, how the hell does Pernetti think Rice deserved another year? Pernetti really might not be the smartest guy in the world because if he had just fired Rice after the season had ended, he might have saved his own job. Pernetti was still sticking up for Rice all the way until the video surfaced to the general public.

It kinda looks like Rutgers made a decision by committee and it blew up on them - that outside counsel's report was so wishy-washy that perhaps it led to the bad decision. Or maybe they didn't want to go through the year with an interim coach, maybe they thought they could work with Rice, etc., etc.

One thing is for dead certain - as you point out, that media blitz by Pernetti this week was just an amazingly bad idea. So terrible.

 

[arch]

This dude is smart. Barchi is now on the clock he is going to have some serious exposing to do. Good luck.

I wonder if there will be other "whistle blowers" from other universities with similar stories to tell. Maybe there won't be tapes but just accusations. What then?

 

[CL82]

Looking like, as I also thought, Pernetti is utterly, and completely, full of . This was a B1G cover up all the way. Outside counsel review below:


http://www.app.com/assets/pdf/B320344045.PDF

"In sum, we believe there is sufficient evidence to find that certain actions of Coach Rice did "cross the line" of permissible conduct and that such actions constituted harassment or intimidation within Rutgers' Policy, Section 60.1.13. Furthermore, due to

the intensity with which Coach Rice engaged in some of the misconduct, we believe that AD Pernetti could reasonably determine that Coach Rice's actions tended to embarrass andbring shame or disgrace to Rutgers in violation of Coach Rice's employment contract with Rutgers. "

Nice find.

Here is an interesting landmine that hasn't been discussed yet:

In addition to these minor infractions, EM has only recently alleged that he and possibly others provided money and other benefits to players at Rutgers while EM was employed. EM refused to name any players who received such benefits or when he allegedly paid such benefits. He also failed to provide us with any documentary support for his claims that he or others provided any such benefits to any player. Accordingly, we have insufficient evidence to find that any Rutgers player ever received any improper benefits during the period from in or about 2010 through in or about July 2012.

 

[coachRD]

If you want to know what I think really happened, I think Pernetti reported this to Barchi and they jointly decided to keep this as low key as possible. Called in HR and legal and devised a strategy to have some cover if it ever blew up. Even brought in an outside advisor for additional cover. When it finally did blow, they dumped Rice thinking that would quiet the crowds. When it didn't, they tried to get Pernetti to walk the plank but he didn't go quiety. Instead he passed the blame onto others.

Agreed that there is MAJOR CYA going on in this case from all corners.

The notion that "outside counsel" would be needed to determine if firing was feasible after watching that video?! Laughable. Anyone who watches more than 1 minute of that video and doesn't immediately come to the conclusion that a firing was the ONLY option-is a jackass.

 

[TRest]

Agreed on Murdock. But if the timeline above is accurate, how the hell does Pernetti think Rice deserved another year? Pernetti really might not be the smartest guy in the world because if he had just fired Rice after the season had ended, he might have saved his own job. Pernetti was still sticking up for Rice all the way until the video surfaced to the general public.

So many radio guys in NYC were talking about this today I forgot who said it, but a plausible explanation is that RU couldn't/didn't want to let him go with any type of buyout, so decided to give him a chance to turn it around. That athletic department is bleeding money and is still probably paying fred Hill Jr. after canning his ass.

 

[BearJWS]

Really the AD for Rutgers was in a No Win situatuation. If they fired Rice immediately, they would have said the penalty was too harsh but if the AD didn't fire Rice, the penalty too soft. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.... it's what gets many high ranking officials fired.

This is why I don't normally respond to posts/stories like this, because some how, some where, someone who didn't do anything wrong loses their job!

 

[kemba]

Really the AD for Rutgers was in a No Win situatuation. If they fired Rice immediately, they would have said the penalty was too harsh but if the AD didn't fire Rice, the penalty too soft. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.... it's what gets many high ranking officials fired.

This is why I don't normally respond to posts/stories like this, because some how, some where, someone who didn't do anything wrong loses their job!

Who would have said the penalty was too harsh?

Because since the video came out 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of people say it was a no brainer to fire him.

 

[huskymedic]

... and here is the Eric Murdock Wrongful Termination suit dropped today.

http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/complaint-4-5-13-filed.pdf

 

[Mots010]

Rutgers was invited to the Big Ten on November 19th.

In reading though that 'outside counsel' report, it looks like the tape was provided to Pernetti on November 26th. (Murdoch says that he didn't take any of his concerns to Pernetti prior to that.) Rice was then suspended on December 14th.

I know we'd love to find something juicy in the way of a coverup here, but unless I'm missing something, the timelines don't really add up.

As for Murdoch, he's not a whistleblower, he's something of a legal extortion artist.

Well if thats the case, then these guys are just boneheads, and I think we were giving them too much credit. Rutgers is the Beverly Hillbillies of college athletics.

 

[BearJWS]

Who would have said the penalty was too harsh?

Because since the video came out 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of people say it was a no brainer to fire him.

You forget Rutgers suspended Rice, fined Rice & requirded Rice to take Anger Management Classes. Rutgers did not do "nothing"... the only complaint is whether they did enough. Seriously, it's a matter of whether they did enough or did they did not do enough. It's a gray area. At the end of the day, those not committing the crime are being accountable! Overreacting -vs- not Overreating.

 

[Mots010]

You forget Rutgers suspended Rice, fined Rice & requirded Rice to take Anger Management Classes. Rutgers did not do "nothing"... the only complaint is whether they did enough. Seriously, it's a matter of whether they did enough or did they did not do enough. It's a gray area. At the end of the day, those not committing the crime are being accountable! Overreacting -vs- not Overreating.

Watching about 30 seconds of those clips was enough to show Rice the door. The solution was obvious, and everyone saw it except the Rutgers administration. It doesnt take a panel of HR people and lawyers to tell you that if these videos got out, that there would be a sh!tstorm of epic proportions. It almost makes you think there had to be a reason to keep Rice around (Big 10 etc), but in the end, I think these guys tried to pinch some pennies and avoid the buyout. They acted small time, just days after they made it to the big time. They Rutger'd it.

 

[BearJWS]

Watching about 30 seconds of those clips was enough to show Rice the door. The solution was obvious, and everyone saw it except the Rutgers administration. It doesnt take a panel of HR people and lawyers to tell you that if these videos got out, that there would be a sh!tstorm of epic proportions. It almost makes you think there had to be a reason to keep Rice around (Big 10 etc), but in the end, I think these guys tried to pinch some pennies and avoid the buyout. They acted small time, just days after they made it to the big time. They Rutger'd it.

It wasn't about pinching pennies but rather keeping it silent. Obviously it was wrong. Sometimes you give your employees some leeway. It wasn't about the AD, but whether to over react. It was a fine line. It was not everything Rice did as a coach, it was the 5-10 mins they showed. I didn't like Rice nor approve of his tactics but the Admin gave him some leeway. The Admin is not at fault in my opinion.

 

[kemba]

You forget Rutgers suspended Rice, fined Rice & requirded Rice to take Anger Management Classes. Rutgers did not do "nothing"... the only complaint is whether they did enough. Seriously, it's a matter of whether they did enough or did they did not do enough. It's a gray area. At the end of the day, those not committing the crime are being accountable! Overreacting -vs- not Overreating.

Didn't say they did nothing.

Again, everybody agrees he absolutely had to be fired. Not much of a grey area here.

 

[Pudge]

So ... We can say Pernetti can change elements to CYA but YOU believe the Rutgers timeline on this regarding the B1G. With $25-40m per annum at stake, you actually have no question about this?

The Tapes? Existed last summer. The B1G talks? Certainly had been going on for over 6 months; maybe years. My Point ... The Point Being ... One look at that video tells you everything. It was explosive within 10 seconds. Covering it & painting this below the Public was a highly incentivized Institutional mandate.

 

[CL82]

They engaged counsel because EM threatened suit, not to determine whether they could take action against Rice.

 

[zymurg]

Pernetti is thrice damned. First he hired Mike Rice; either he did due diligence and was fully aware of his behavior problems, or he made a poorly informed hire. Remember that RU fired two of their previous three coaches for egregious out of control behavior. At best hiring Mike Rice was a major risk.

Second he did nothing to monitor Rice's behavior, or perhaps he ignored the clearly evident lapses by Rice and Martelli. He acted only upon having the taped evidence pushed in his face. There is at least one confirmed situation where a player got physical with a coach after being harassed physically.

Third he tried to weasel out of his responsibility. He didn't fire Rice, then he tried to defend Rice and himself when the news came out.

He should have "lack of institutional control" branded on his body in a 360% ring preferably where the sun doesn't shine.

 

[zymurg]

Pernetti is thrice damned. First he hired Mike Rice; either he did due diligence and was fully aware of his behavior problems, or he made a poorly informed hire. Remember that RU fired two of their previous three coaches for egregious out of control behavior. At best hiring Mike Rice was a major risk.

Second he did nothing to monitor Rice's behavior, or perhaps he ignored the clearly evident lapses by Rice and Martelli. He acted only upon having the taped evidence pushed in his face. There is at least one confirmed situation where a player got physical with a coach after being harassed physically.

Third he tried to weasel out of his responsibility. He didn't fire Rice, then he tried to defend Rice and himself when the news came out.

He should have "lack of institutional control" branded on his body in a 360% ring preferably where the sun doesn't shine.

One other thing; RU fans often allege that the tapes show a very biased slice of the Mike Rice who coaches RU. While he probably didn't berate and assault RU players during meals and while on the throne; I'm thinking that he might have dreamt about doing it. RU fans seem to be assuming that there is nothing provocative or shameful done by Mike Rice during practices except what is on the portion of the tapes made public. There is substantial inferential evidence that this is not the case. The fact that an assistant coach felt free to assault players makes this point.

 

[Dogdeacon]

If timelines correct it does seem Pernetti joins ranks of galactically stupid. Murdock seemingly close behind in compounding a bad situation with more bad & dumb actions.

I find it hard to believe individuals could be that misguided but it appears to be the case

 

[Peacefrog]

Zymurg is back!

 

[NEforceUConn]

Wish we had another button besides "like".

A+ idea. Lets have a few more buttons such as:

1) You are a .
2) Delusional
3) Go back to BCU and finish your degree.