The College of Charleston’s former baseball coach has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against his employer, alleging that the school failed to give him an opportunity to defend himself against accusations that he had created a “toxic program” for players.
Plaintiff Matt Heath, who was fired on June 30 after two seasons as the Cougars head coach, is seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress and alleged harm to his reputation. He has named The College of Charleston, school president Glenn McConnell and athletic director Matt Roberts as defendants.
According to the local paper, The Post and Courier, Heath was accused of:
“Pulling an unidentified pitcher ‘up by his neck’ in the third base dugout and yelling at him during Heath’s tenure as pitching coach. Heath allegedly imitated a sex act by ‘repeatedly thrusting the mid-section of his body against the pitcher and said that this was what the hitters were doing to the pitcher.’
Screaming at pitchers on a charter bus and kicking a cooler.
Requiring players to run excessively, practice on their ‘off days’ and perform drills such as ‘wheel barrowing’ and ‘bear crawls.’
Making fun of and discussing players’ health issues in front of other players.
Cursing at and using abusive language toward his players.”
After the investigation was completed on June 14, Roberts fired Heath. Represented by attorney Allan R. Holmes of Gibbs & Holmes, Heath claims his Constitutional rights were violated.
The plaintiff issued the following statement:
“I am not a lawyer and I don’t really completely understand all of that but the lawyers I’ve been dealing with are very confident that I have been wronged and will be taking the necessary steps from this point on. I am crushed that it has gotten to this point but President McConnell refused multiple requests from me to meet and discuss these false claims.“
