A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a former College of Charleston assistant baseball coach against the school and Athletic Director Matt Roberts.
Plaintiff Jeffrey Whitfield claimed “no rhyme or reason to his termination,” which came just weeks after the school agreed to pay head baseball coach Matt Heath $350,000 to settle his wrongful termination lawsuit.
Whitfield claimed he was “excelling in his role as assistant coach so much that on or around the summer of 2017, coach Heath went to Roberts and requested that Whitfield receive a raise.”
However, Whitfield “failed to support a claim for civil conspiracy against the College, (the president) and Roberts.”
Furthermore, Whitfield was an “at will” employee, meaning under state law he could be terminated at any time.
“The College specifies: you are an ‘at-will’ employee and may be terminated at any time, with or without cause, except as otherwise prohibited by law,’” wrote the court. “Under South Carolina law, an at-will public employee has no property interest in his employment cognizable under the due process clause.’”
