The long-time head athletic trainer and assistant athletic director at Texas A&M University (TAMU) has sued the school, claiming that it fired him in November 2013 because of his age.
Plaintiff Karl Kapchinski, who graduated from TAMU in 1979, became the school’s head athletic trainer in 1982. According to the TAMU Website, he was the leader of “one of the most reputable sports medicine staffs in the country and was selected by his peers as the 2005 NCAA Division I Athletic Trainer of the Year.”
Besides supervising “a staff of 12 athletic trainers, a physical therapist, and a nutritionist. … his other administrative duties include(d) directing the department’s drug testing program, maintaining the operational budget, managing medical payments, inventory and equipment for all the athletic training facilities, while active as an athletic trainer for all men’s and women’s sports.
“Kapchinski also played an instrumental role in the planning and design of the world-class athletic training room in the Bright Football Complex, Little Sports Complex, the Cox-McFerrin Center for Aggie Basketball and the new Blue Bell Park Olsen Field Athletic Training facility. The athletic training rooms which Kapchinski oversees are considered to be some of the top facilities in the country- collegiate or professional ….
“In 1999 and 2009 Kapchinski and his A&M associates received the Athletic Training Staff of the Year Award, the highest citation given by the Big 12 Conference to athletic trainers. Within the Big 12, Karl was the former chairman of the Big 12 Medical Aspects of Sport Committee and served as the sponsorship chair. He is also active as the exhibits chair for the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association.”
The Lawsuit and the Events Leading Up to It
Kapchinski was 56 when he was fired by Athletic Director Eric Hyman for his “unacceptable job performance.” Hyman, reportedly, wrote in the termination letter that he would not be eligible for rehire for five years.
J. Davis Watson, Kapchinski’s attorney, told Sports Litigation Alert that the not-for-rehire designation violates university policy. He went on to note that the university’s standard administration procedure requires that an employee’s termination meet one of three criteria in order to designate that employee as not eligible for rehire. His conditions around the firing met none of those criteria, according to Watson.
The criteria, according to the student newspaper, The Eagle, are: “the result of ‘progressive discipline’ and ‘demonstrated a failure to meet job-related expectations’; stem from ‘gross misconduct’ resulting in policy violation; or be ‘in the best interest of Texas A&M.’”
According to the complaint, “none of these conditions precedent are present or applicable.”
In tandem with the lawsuit, Hyman issued the following statement: “This guy is literally in the athletic trainers’ hall of fame. Eric Hyman fires him suddenly and without any specific reason given. Then they blacklisted Karl from working anywhere else at the university. It’s just bizarre, but we are going to get to the bottom of it.”
The Eagle, however, reported that Hyman and Senior Associate Athletics Director Raymond Harrison had concerns leading up to the firing, according to documents in Kapchinski’s personnel file that were released in November of 2013.
“At those meetings, they reminded Kapchinski that he needed to be available to all sports teams and to meet with all head coaches before their seasons started, which Kapchinski did not do, according to personnel records,” according to the paper. “He was also told at more than one meeting to stop attending football practice on a daily basis, according to the records.”
Watson told Sports Litigation Alert that the university has not filed its answer yet.
