A California jury handed the NCAA a major victory Monday in a case in which it was sued by a former University of Southern California assistant football coach. Plaintiff Todd McNair had alleged that he was defamed by the association when it sanctioned him for his role in an impermissible benefits case involving former Trojans star Reggie Bush.
But the jury balked at the third of nine questions on the verdict form, which was: Were statements that two NCAA committees made about McNair false? The jury found, 9-3, that they were not false.
“We hope that the decision will allow the NCAA, USC and Mr. McNair to move on,” NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said in a statement.
McNair sued the NCAA seven years ago when its infractions committee concluded that he exhibited unethical conduct in the Bush case. In response, the NCAA sanctioned him with a one-year “show cause” penalty, meaning a would-be employer would have to acknowledge that McNair was a rule-breaker before hiring him.
The penalty sent McNair into a tailspin as he has not coached since, suffered financially and allegedly experienced depression.
“If you’re going to come into court and ask for $27 million, you need some corroborating evidence,” Anthony Bruno, a lawyer in L.A. who served as the jury foreman, told The Los Angeles Times. “All we really had is his own testimony. … The jury really wanted to get there for him. It was just hard because he has the burden of proof.”
The paper insinuated that McNair’s legal team may have made an error when it withdrew breach of contract and negligence claims. “The head juror speculated McNair could’ve won on both counts had they remained,” according to the Times. “The jury asked Judge Frederick Shaller last week why the counts had been dropped. The judge instructed them not to consider the matter.”
In the aftermath of the case, Bruno told the assembled media: “I don’t think the NCAA should come away from this thinking they did things right. I think the entire jury room was very, very disappointed and we wanted to do something. … I think it’s very clear they weren’t following their own bylaws.”
Documents for the case can be found at: https://www.scribd.com/document/259929574/Todd-McNair-v-NCAA-lawsuit-documents
