Hartford Courant article - for our reading pleasure:
Kevin Ollie, Union Begin Fight With UConn For Coach's Salary
Ollie Expects to Return
UConn head coach Kevin Ollie says he expects to coach this team next season.
Dom AmoreBy Dom Amore•Contact Reporter
damore@courant.com
March 11, 2018, 4:35 PM
Kevin Ollie is set to have a hearing with UConn athletic director David Benedict within the next two weeks, as the fight over the $10 million remaining on his contract gets underway.
“At this point, we just consider Kevin suspended with pay, pending his right to a hearing,” said Michael Bailey, executive director of UConn’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, of which Ollie is a member. “At that time, he is going to be able to respond to any factual evidence that the director is using, that he thinks to be evidence that has led him to initiate disciplinary proceedings for termination.”
Bailey filed his formal request for a hearing on Ollie’s behalf on Saturday, so by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, it must happen by March 25.
UConn announced Saturday morning it had “initiated disciplinary procedures to terminate” Ollie’s employment for “just cause.” The men’s basketball program is the subject of an NCAA investigation, the findings of which have not been released. The infractions the school will cite are believed to center on impermissible summer workouts.
“As far as I know right now, the NCAA has not finished their investigation, they have not determined facts.
— Michael Bailey, executive director of UConn's chapter of the American Association of University Professors
Ollie is signed through 2021 at more than $3 million a year; if he is fired for just cause, the university would not have to pay. If just cause cannot be established, Ollie would have to be paid in full, unless a settlement is reached.
Late Saturday, Ollie released a statement to ESPN indicating he would contest UConn’s decision. His statement concluded, “This process has just begun, and I intend to work vigorously to defend my honor and my integrity, and to defend my good name to the fullest extent provided under the law, the university grievance procedures and the NCAA compliance process.”
Benedict signed Ollie to his current contract in 2016, at which time UConn was 97-44 with a national championship and a conference championship during his first four seasons. The Huskies are 30-35 in the past two seasons. In January, the school acknowledged the NCAA was conducting an inquiry into the program, which was not connected to the wide-ranging FBI fraud and bribery probe which has enveloped college basketball this season. Last fall, UConn retained the law firm of Lightfoot, Franklin and White to conduct an internal review of the program, a step the NCAA urged major programs to take.
“As of this point, there are allegations out there,” Bailey said, “they are not factual, as far as I’m aware of. I’m hoping at that hearing [Benedict] will be able to provide us with that information that is leading him to that determination. As far as I know right now, the NCAA has not finished their investigation, they have not determined facts. … I am not aware that [the internal review] produced any information that led to this decision.”
In UConn’s statement on Saturday, Benedict said, “It is unfortunate that this decision became necessary. As with all of our programs, we hold men’s basketball to the highest standards. We will begin a national search immediately to identify our next head coach.”
Kevin Ollie is set to have a hearing with UConn athletic director David Benedict, above, within the next two weeks. (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)
UConn president Susan Herbst said, “the men’s basketball program has a proud history and a tradition of excellence. Our goal, above all, is to ensure we have a program that UConn Nation can be proud of, including our students, alumni, fans, and all our committed supporters.”
The university, the statement said, would have no further comment until “the completion of both the University’s disciplinary process and the ongoing NCAA investigation.”
Although not many coaches across the country are members of the union, Bailey said, in the Connecticut state system they are part of the collective bargaining agreement. Ollie is therefore entitled to union protection.
“The rights that are afforded to him under the collective bargaining agreement allow him to continue with pay until the appeal process is concluded,” Bailey said, “which is up to, and including four months or an arbitrator’s decision, if it gets that far.”
If Ollie is unsuccessful in his hearing with Benedict, he can then appeal to Herbst. If he is still unsuccessful, the dispute can be taken to arbitration. The arbiter can then decide for one side, or the other, but does not have the authority to order a compromise.
“Part of the [collective bargaining agreement] in this process, for due process, has got to show serious misconduct that led them to this decision,” Bailey said. “In the scope of things, what does the NCAA determine to be serious misconduct? There are different steps of violations, one, two or three, with three being the most serious. What we’re looking for the NCAA to determine whether the allegations that have been out there to be either a one, two or three. … ”
Bailey, who became executive director of the AAUP at UConn in 2014, said the standards in place for just cause and procedure for discipline are new, negotiated into the most recent collective bargaining agreement last fall.
Alicia Jessop, a sports law professor at Pepperdine University, told the Courant the language of Ollie’s contract is written “very broadly,” which could favor UConn.
“But it still has to rise to the level of serious misconduct,” Bailey said.
If the sides attempt to negotiate a separation agreement, perhaps meeting in the middle of the more than $10 million gulf, the union would have to agree.
“We would be a part of that,” Bailey said. “Ultimately, I would have to sign off on that. If there are any negotiations for his departure, that would have to go through the AAUP as well. We’re protecting the bargaining unit as a whole as opposed to an individual.”
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