The Louisiana Supreme Court has overturned a lower court’s ruling that a college basketball coach was entitled to a trial in a case in which he alleged that the University of Louisiana-Lafayette defamed him and breached his contract when it fired him just months after he was hired for resume fraud.
The high court held specifically that the facts surrounding the Glynn Cyprien’s claim were clear that he had had plenty of opportunities to submit an accurate resume, but chose not to
Cyprien was hired at ULL in May 2004 and fired him two months later, reportedly after it was learned that his degrees were from an online school, Lacrosse University, and not from Texas-San Antonio as the resume had claimed. Lacrosse, based in Bay St. Louis, Miss., is not recognized by major accreditation agencies.
Cyprien claimed he was defamed because he gave the correct information in another form to a student worker at his previous employer, who nonetheless mistakenly faxed the inaccurate one.
ULL and the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors noted in sworn statements that the school requires a degree from a college accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
The high court held that since Cyprien did not have such a degree, the defendants had a “valid” reason to turn him away.
