Early indications from the attorney of former Auburn University Baseball Coach Sunny Golloway, who was fired with cause earlier this fall, are that his client will sue for wrongful termination.
Birmingham attorney John Saxon called the firing of Golloway “outrageous.”
He continued: “The allegations against him are pretextual. Coach Golloway has made no mistakes. If some, who want him gone, say mistakes were made, they are the mistakes of others, who have conspired to make him the victim. If it is necessary in the coming days to air these matters, folks from Jay Jacobs on down — but not Sunny Golloway — will be the ones wishing Auburn had handled this differently. As for President Gogue, he does not know the facts. If he did, he would not have acquiesced in this decision.”
Saxon went on to suggest that unless a “serious” severance package is offered to Golloway, the coach “will be fighting this matter in some forum.” Such a package could be significant, given that Golloway was in the middle of a five-year contract that was paying him $625,000 a year. Another factor is a $1.25 million buyout that the university is obligated to pay unless the firing is “with cause.”
A “with cause” finding could reportedly hinge on whether Golloway was “involved in significant Level I or Level II or repetitive Level III violations” of Auburn, SEC, or NCAA rules. A more amorphous trigger could center of whether Golloway exhibited “conduct that is contrary to the positive image and conduct” expected from a head coach at Auburn.
The university clearly believes that Golloway, whose head coaching career includes 15 NCAA Regional appearances in 17 years, committed violations. After a two month investigation, it issued the following statement: “Coach Golloway was dismissed for violating rules and the terms of his contract. Auburn Baseball has moved on.”
Those violations allegedly included:
Allowing improperly permitted players to participate in work outs
Allowing improperly permitted players not medically cleared to throw bullpen sessions
Deleting video of improperly permitted players throwing bullpen sessions
Improperly allowing an “all-star” game to take place during a summer baseball camp
During the camp, failing to remove players from the field in a timely fashion when informed of a lightning in the area
Allowing a non-coaching staff volunteer to participate in team activities
Failure to keep details about the investigation confidential
Mislead senior administrations about conduct, NCAA violations; and failing to report them
Golloway reportedly challenged each of the allegations. He also invoked the name of one of the most respected NCAA Compliance attorneys in the business — Gene Marsh of Jackson Lewis, P.C.
“I do not know of any NCAA violations,” Golloway said at his press conference. “When I went in to be deposed I had Gene Marsh with me. Gene Marsh is an expert NCAA attorney. His words were to Auburn’s attorney, ‘Henry, I don’t see anything on here that would even be a secondary (violation).’”
