Ex-Ohio State Coach Wins Lawsuit

Background:

Ex-Ohio State basketball coach Jim O’Brien recently won a lawsuit against Ohio State University (OSU) for improper termination. I feel this high profile case relates directly to employment at-will discussions that took place in class.

Coach O’Brien was under contract and in my opinion the facts of this case indicate why so many employers prefer employment at will. A detailed article on the O’Brien case can be found here: “O'Brien wins lawsuit against Ohio State.”

Summary:

Judge Joseph T. Clark found that the claims against Jim O’Brien were not a material breach of his contract. Coach O’Brien had loaned a potential recruit’s mother $6,000 in 1998 to cover the cost of a funeral for the father of the potential basketball player. This payment was a clear violation of NCAA rules and thus brought about O’Brien’s termination by OSU.

The judge’s interpretation of the situation was that O’Brien had breached his contract by making the loan but that a “single, isolated failure of performance” was not serious enough to fire O’Brien.

The finding of improper termination of this case will result in Ohio State University paying somewhere between $3.5 million in lost wages and could increase to $9.5 million including interest and damages depending on future court rulings.

In this case O’Brien’s employment contract required cause for termination. Ohio State claimed that violating NCAA rules was the cause for his termination. In my opinion this is a suitable reason for terminating a coach in a high profile basketball program. The courts finding and interpretations were different and found that “While plaintiff's conduct prior to disclosing the loan was not completely consistent with good faith and fair dealing, plaintiff did make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute.”

Opinion:

In my opinion this case clearly depicts why employers prefer employment at-will and to some extent explains why employment at-will is better suited for complex employment situations.

Questions:

• Does this case which evaluates an employment contract affect your opinions about employment at-will?
• Do you agree with the judge’s decision in this case?
• If is fair that OSU will have to pay between $3.5 and $9.5 for firing a coach who clearly broke their contract?