San Diego State University reached a settlement with Dave Ohton, its former strength coach, last month for $2.7 million.
Ohton had claimed he was fired after he cooperated with investigators, who were looking into improprieties within the SDSU athletic department.
In the winter of 2003, Ohton’s had provided a written document in response to an internal audit of the department, in which he wrote:
“I did not travel at all this past year [the 2002-03 season], and I heard the stories about how [head football] Coach Tom Craft got seriously drunk the night before the Idaho game [in Idaho], and he had to be assisted by several of his assistants back to the hotel. A few boosters informed me that it was a despicable sight to see a drunken Craft being helped through the lobby. The next day, Idaho beat us 48-36, and we were heavily favored to win. Several weeks later, against some of our football coaches were seen walking out of a strip club at 1 a.m. We lost that game 15-8 and again, we were favored. It begs the question, if I know about these drinking episodes and I’m in San Diego, don’t you think our football administrators know?”
Ohton was fired later that year. He claimed in a lawsuit that “members of San Diego State University’s administration and staff violated Government Code section 8547 and retaliated against one of their colleagues because he cooperated with investigations into SDSU’s athletics department.” Section 8547 guarantees protection against retribution for state employees who report work-place violations.
In addition to Head Football Coach Tom Craft, Ohton named the university and the California State University system as well as the following administrators as defendants: Athletic Director Gene Bartow, Defensive Coordinator Thom Kaumeyer, Director of Football Operations Dave Powroznik, Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs Sally Roush and Director of Human Resources Sue Blair.
The defendants moved for summary judgment. The trial judge granted the motion, finding that CSU met its responsibilities when it investigated the plaintiff’s retaliation claims, which were made after Ohton sought protection under the California Whistleblower Protection Act. Ohton successfully appealed that ruling, when a panel of judges concluded that the defendants did not meet their obligations (Sports Litigation Alert, May 11, 2007). It remanded the case back to the trial court.
In a procedural ruling, the trial court again denied Ohton, prompting another appeal. Once again, the appeals court overturned the trial court (Sports Litigation Alert, Feb. 12, 2010), setting the stage for trial in May of 2011.
University attorney Marlene Jones told the media that insurance will cover all but $350 thousand of the settlement cost and that insurance also funded most of the legal expenses, which the San Diego Union Tribune reported was close to $1 million. “The litigation could have gone on for several more years,” Jones told the media. “Both parties felt it was in their best interest to end it.”
Ohton was represented by Attorney Dennis Schoville.
