College sacked: Football coach keeps his jobAuthor(s): Paul MarcotteSource: ABA Journal, Vol. 72, No. 4 (April 1, 1986), p. 35Published by: American Bar AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20758692 .

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LaujScope

College sacked Football coach keeps his job

Dartmouth College head football coach Joe Yukica's successful battle to

keep his job for another year may signal a new respect for sports employment con tracts.

Many lawyers and coaches say con tracts of sports figures too often are bro ken before the ink dries.

In December, Yukica, 54, blocked Dartmouth's attempt to fire him by ob taining a temporary court order restrain

ing the athletic director from hiring a

replacement. In Yukica v. Leland, 85-E-191, Yukica

argued in Haverhill Superior Court that he was not given 12 months' notice of termination, as required by his contract. Yukica's contract had been renewed last summer and extended through June 1987. But in November, after his second

straight losing season, Dartmouth athlet ic director Ted Leland told Yukica he was

being relieved of his coaching duties and would be reassigned elsewhere in the college. In December Yukica filed suit.

Yukica, who has been head coach since 1978, was supported at his court hearing by other coaches, including Penn State's Joe Paterno. The American Football Coaches Association, ignoring what it

Quotes

"There's a 'meat market' feel to the

process."?Stephen D. Yandle, asso

ciate dean at Yale Law School, refer

ring to the recruiting of law-school

graduates by law firms and judges.

"I got a couple of calls from em

ployers who wanted to know what was the safest time to get rid of somebody, and I told them that to avoid age discrimination claims, it was probably safer to do it before Jan. 1."?Peter Panken, a New York lawyer. Manda tory retirement became illegal in New York in 1986. In several cases, work ers in their 70s were forced to retire late last year, just before the effective date of the law that would have pro tected them, no matter what their age.

called its long-standing policy of not com

menting on contractual disputes, issued a statement commending Yukica. The statement said Yukica "has a well deserved reputation as one of the profes sion's most respected coaches." It noted Yukica was motivated by a sense of equi ty, and it called for a "renewed sense of

responsibility" by coaches and institu tions in honoring contracts.

In January, a settlement was reached allowing Yukica to remain as coach through the 1986 season. The settlement calls for Yukica to get roughly a $1,700 pay increase. He will be paid $57,511 this year and retain the use of a car and house while serving as coach. Next January he'll receive $70,000 in settlement of his claim.

"One of the purposes of incarcera tion is rehabilitation. I don't know what good it would do society to make them do 18 years, and to reincarcerate them would be cruel and inhumane."

?Louisiana District Judge Bob Hester, who allowed two inmates, who had been released by mistake, to remain free.

"It was very humiliating to me. I felt like a wrongdoer for being a single parent."?John Hamilton, a 43-year old California aerospace worker who was thrown out of a store dressing room while helping his daughter, 5, try on clothes. He has filed a $200,000 sex discrimination suit against the store, J.C. Penney Co.

"Asking restaurants voluntarily to create a nonsmoking section is about as effective as asking people not to

park on the street. It's the threat of a fine, not the call to honor, that

Leland said the college had offered to buy out Yukica's contract, before the court hearing, but Yukica declined the offer, saying: "I would do anything that would allow me to coach in 1986." Once he won this right, he entered into the settlement with the college.

The national attention over this case probably will lead other colleges to be more careful before trying to fire coach es, Leland said.

Yukica said he fought to keep his job as a matter of principle and because he felt he was doing a good job. Yukica said coaching football has been his life for 20 years. He has won three Ivy League championships and has a record of 33-41-2 at Dartmouth. ?Paul Marcotte

works."?A New York Times editori al commenting on the poor response of New York City restaurant owners to Mayor Edward Koch's request to re serve 25 percent of their seats for nonsmokers.

"Our thesis is employers should rec ognize the importance of AIDS as a

problem and prepare for its eruption."?Dr. Leon Warshaw, ex

ecutive director of New York's Busi ness Group on Health, which has sug gested that companies force employees suffering from AIDS to work at home.

"A single six-year term would re lease Presidents from the test of sub

mitting their records to the voters. It would be a mighty reinforcement of the imperial Presidency . . . [and] an

impeachment of the democratic proc ess itself."?Arthur Schlesinger Jr., writing in the New York Times.

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Yukica: Coaching football has been my life for 20 years.

April 1,1986 . Volume 72 35

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