Cohane v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n
| Decision Date | 23 March 2014 |
| Docket Number | 04-CV-181S(Sr) |
| Parties | TIMOTHY M. COHANE, Plaintiffs, v. NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, TOM HOSTY, STEPHANIE HANNAH and JACK FRIEDENTHAL, WILLIAM M. GREINER, President of the State University of New York at Buffalo, DENNIS BLACK, Vice President for Student Affairs, ROBERT ARKEILPANE, Athletic Director, WILLIAM MAHER, Compliance Director, ERIC EISENBERG, MID AMERICAN CONFERENCE, by its Commissioner, Richard Chryst, and ROBERT FOURNIER, Esq., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of New York |
In this consolidated action, Plaintiff, a former basketball coach at the State University of New York at Buffalo, seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for Defendants' alleged violations of his procedural and substantive due process rights. Plaintiff also asserts a claim under New York state law for tortious interference with contract. Presently before this Court are the objections of Plaintiff and Defendants Mid-American Conference and Robert Fournier (the "MAC Defendants") to the Honorable H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr.'s August 8, 2013 Report, Recommendation and Order recommending that Defendants' summary judgment motions be granted and the complaints be dismissed.
Plaintiff commenced the initial action against the MAC Defendants and officials of the State University of New York at Buffalo on January 17, 2003 in the Eastern District of New York. (Docket No. 55-1 in 1:04-cv-943 ("SUNY Docket").) The matter was transferred to this Court in November 2004. Plaintiff filed a second action against the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") and several NCAA employees in this Court on March 19, 2004. (Docket No. 1 in 1:04-cv-181 ("NCAA Docket").) In both actions, Plaintiff similarly accuses the MAC and NCAA Defendants of acting under the color of state law by jointly engaging with SUNY officials to violate Plaintiff's substantive and procedural due process rights as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The MAC Defendants are further alleged to have tortiously interfered with Plaintiff's SUNY Buffalo employment contract and his subsequent resignation agreement.
These actions stem from investigations into Plaintiff's alleged violations of MAC and/or NCAA rules governing off-season practice, observation of practices or scrimmages with prospective student athletes, and scouting. MAC is a NCAA Division I-A athletic conference. (SUNY Docket No. 198 ¶¶ 9, 11.) SUNY Buffalo is a member of both MAC and the NCAA. (Id. ¶ 12; SUNY Docket No. 199-1 ¶¶ 8, 14.) MAC's Committee on Infractions ("MAC COI") is responsible for determining whether specific violations of NCAA and/or MAC rules have occurred with respect to both member institutions and individuals. (SUNY Docket No. 199-1 at 38.) The MAC COI does not have any direct authority to assess penalties against an individual staff member of a member institution; however, the committee does recommend appropriate disciplinary action. (SUNY Docket No. 198 ¶ 20.)
In 1999, SUNY Buffalo 'self-reported' alleged violations of NCAA rules by its men'sbasketball program to MAC. (SUNY Docket Nos. 198 ¶ 28; 210 ¶ 28.) As a result, Defendant Robert Fournier, MAC's Senior Associate Commissioner of Compliance at the time, conducted an on-campus investigation of the allegations that fall. (SUNY Docket Nos. 198 ¶¶ 25, 29-30; 210 ¶¶ 25, 29.) Defendants argue that Fournier conducted the investigation with mere administrative support provided by SUNY Buffalo. (SUNY Docket Nos. 198 ¶ 30; 255 ¶¶ 6-7.) In contrast, Plaintiff argues that Fournier conducted a joint investigation with SUNY, complete with SUNY officials participating in interviews and procuring inculpatory affidavits, with the goal of removing Plaintiff from his position as head coach. (SUNY Docket Nos. 210 ¶ 30; 261 at 87.)
On November 16, 1999, Defendant Fournier presented to SUNY Buffalo a report detailing 18 allegations of misconduct against the men's basketball program (the "MAC 18" report). (SUNY Docket No. 229-11 at 13-23.) Each allegation was followed by a description of the supporting evidence. SUNY Buffalo was afforded the opportunity to consider the allegations and either concur, offer modifications, or refute the allegations. (Id. at 13.)
On November 29, 1999, SUNY Buffalo informed Plaintiff that it was considering suspending him in connection with the alleged improprieties and conducted a hearing at which Plaintiff was represented by counsel and presented with a copy of the MAC 18 report. (SUNY Docket No. 196-5 at 2-3, 11-12.) During that hearing, Plaintiff was questioned regarding an allegation that was not included in the MAC 18 report, specifically that Mitch Gillam, a prospective assistant coach whom Plaintiff was precluded from hiring, was seen improperly scouting at a basketball game at another school. (Id. at 107-116.) Plaintiff denied that Gillam was acting on his behalf or ever provided him with scoutinginformation. (Id. at 115-116.)
SUNY Buffalo accepted the findings in the MAC 18 report on December 1, 1999 and suspended Plaintiff that same day. (SUNY Docket Nos. 189-1 ¶ 91; 211 ¶ 91; 234-4 at 2; 261 at 58.) On December 3, 1999, Plaintiff and SUNY Buffalo entered into an agreement by which Plaintiff would resign and SUNY would pay him the remainder of his contract, the sum of $265,000. (SUNY Docket No. 194 at 5-7.) The parties acknowledged in the agreement that Plaintiff retained the opportunity to provide a written response to MAC regarding the allegations in the MAC 18 report. (SUNY Docket No. 194 at 5-6.) A mutual general release was executed at that time in which Plaintiff waived all claims against SUNY Buffalo "existing as of or prior to the execution of this Memorandum of Understanding." (Id. at 8.) Plaintiff submitted a 30-page response to the MAC 18 report in a letter dated December 22, 1999. (SUNY Docket No. 196-6.) Plaintiff argued therein that much of the testimony relied upon came from student witnesses recruited by another coach, and he therefore offered affidavits from additional students in support of his objections. (See e.g. id. at 16, 18, )
In a December 22, 1999 letter, Fournier informed SUNY Buffalo of MAC's recommended corrective measures in light of the found infractions. (Docket No. 190 at 71-73.) Fournier identified SUNY's decision to accept Plaintiff's resignation and the additional staffing changes made by SUNY as important corrective measures, and further recommended 12 additional corrective measures, including the placement of the men's basketball program on probation. (Id.) SUNY Buffalo accepted these recommendations in their entirety. (SUNY Docket No. 238 at 12.)
SUNY Buffalo self-reported an additional allegation on January 3, 2000, specificallythat "an individual closely associated with [the] men's basketball program[, Mitch Gillam,] engaged in scouting activities with two future opponents." (Docket No. 241 at 41-42.) Sometime between receipt of the self-report and January 16, 2000, Fournier revised the MAC 18 report to including the scouting allegation and one other allegation not relevant to the current action (the "MAC 20" report). (SUNY Docket No. 227 at 15-25.) The MAC 20 nonetheless remained dated November 16, 1999. (Id.) Fournier avers that he "inadvertently failed to change the date on the report." (Docket No. 255 ¶ 17.) He also added three additional student athlete affidavits submitted by SUNY Buffalo "and removed these student-athletes' prior affidavits so that the [MAC] Committee had the most current statements from these student athletes and what I believed to be the statements that best reflected their intended true positions and recollections since they were the most recent statements." (Docket No. 255 ¶ 18.) Plaintiff asserts that he never saw the MAC 20 report until discovery in 2007. (SUNY Docket No. 220 ¶ 42.)
The MAC Committee on Infractions ("MAC COI") held a hearing on January 16, 2000 at which Plaintiff appeared. (SUNY Docket Nos. 220 ¶ 46; 255 ¶ 24.) Fournier asserts that he presented the additional allegation of scouting, and that Plaintiff was present when Fournier played a video in support of that allegation and had an opportunity to respond. (SUNY Docket No. 255 ¶ 24.) Plaintiff similarly testified at his deposition that he was present for Fournier's presentation, he himself also made a presentation, and then he was asked to leave. (SUNY Docket No. 196-3 at 43-45.)
The MAC COI, by letter dated January 18, 2000, adopted the findings in the MAC 20 and the recommended correction measures. (SUNY Docket No. 238 at 13-14.) The Committee also voted to make three additional recommendations, including "issuing aformal Letter of Reprimand to [Plaintiff] for his acknowledgment of wrongdoing before the Committee in some of the infractions and his possible involvement in others as noted in the report." (Id.) The case was then forwarded to the NCAA enforcement staff for review and "final adjudication." (Id. at 14.)
A preliminary inquiry by the NCAA then commenced. NCAA Enforcement staff Kevin Pearson conducted interviews of student athletes and administrators in Buffalo, including Plaintiff, in March and May 2000. (SUNY Docket Nos. 196-4 at 9; 196-24 at 3-4.) The NCAA determined that Fournier and MAC should not be a part of the NCAA interviews, in part "to test the credibility of the witnesses" previously interviewed by Fournier (SUNY Docket No. 261 at 77) in light of "statements of alleged intimidation." (NCAA Docket No. 123-8 at 4.) As a result of his investigation, Pearson believed the matter was a "secondary" case that should not proceed to a letter of official inquiry, and he informed the NCAA Enforcement Director, Defendant Tom Hosty, of his concern. (SUNY Docket Nos. 235-9 at 2; 235-10 at 2-3; NCAA Docket No. 119-16 at 47; see SUNY Docket No. 196-22 at 6 ().) Pearson believed that "there were clearly issues with...
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