Ohio State ordered to pay O'Brien

[_amon _ones]

Link

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State must pay former men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien more than $2.4 million for his wrongful firing in 2004, an appeals court ordered Thursday.

The 10th District Court of Appeals also ruled that O'Brien should not receive an additional $1.3 million that he had said he was owed by the university.

In the majority ruling, Judges Donna Bowman and G. Gary Tyack affirmed a decision by the Ohio Court of Claims. Judge Judith L. French dissented.

University attorneys had argued that O'Brien committed a material breach of his contract and shouldn't receive any money.

The university has 45 days to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, which can elect not to hear the appeal.

O'Brien, the head coach of the Buckeyes from 1998-2004, was fired after revealing to then-Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger that he had loaned a recruit $6,000.

O'Brien sued Ohio State for wrongly firing him and was awarded $2.2 million plus interest last August. Court of Claims Judge Joseph T. Clark ruled that Ohio State did not follow the conditions of the contract with the coach before dismissing him.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

How on earth is it possible that this is considered a wrongful firing when it has been proven in both university and NCAA investigations that O'Brien had knowingly committed rules violations while coach, nearly costing OSU probation and scholarships for his (mis)behavior. That is a load of BS.

If I have an employee who is knowingly committing actions, such as viewing porn on the company internet while at work, knowing full well it is outlined in the company handbook that this is not tolerated and a company policy, that the employee could sue me for wrongful termination, even though it is outlined in black and white?

You can't tell me that there isn't some language in the contract that spells out "don't commit any NCAA infractions." That is pretty much a given on that stage.

I hope OSU keeps appealing, as O'Brien doesn't deserve a dime.

 

[Style]

Probably a case of following the letter of the law instead of the spirit of it, but I honestly don't know. O'Brien can go to hell.

 

[cdt]

Classy move giving Matta a 480k pay raise...suck it O'Brien.

 

[Style]

Classy move giving Matta a 480k pay raise...suck it O'Brien.

He's now locked up through 2016!