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MARSHALL SPORTS
Marshall, Pruett fire back at former compliance officer
HUNTINGTON — Marshall University and former head football coach Bob Pruett submitted documents to U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chambers on Friday in response to filings made last week by former athletics compliance director B. David Ridpath.
Both responses claim that Ridpath’s change of position and voluntary departure from Marshall in 2004 were his own doing and not related to NCAA sanctions handed down in 2001, two years after violations were discovered.
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Case documents Click the links below for documents relating to this lawsuit. WARNING: Documents contain language which may be offensive to some readers. Filed Friday Earlier documents |
Ridpath, now the assistant professor of Sport Administration at Ohio University, has accused Marshall University and Pruett of making him the scapegoat by calling his position change “correction action” following the NCAA sanctions. Ridpath was transferred from the position of Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Student Services to Director of Judicial Programs, a move he agreed to, and former Marshall University President Dan Angel stripped him of his adjunct professor status.
Not long after the move, he filed a complaint against the university, saying the position change and the stance of “correction action” hurt his reputation and would prevent him from gaining further employment. The original complaint was filed in August 2003, and Ridpath left Marshall the following summer for a position directing the graduate sports administration program at Mississippi State University before going to Ohio University for the second time in his career.
His employment terms since his departure from Marshall are one of the reasons the university believes a summary judgment on the case is necessary. Further, the school’s document states actions taken by Marshall were more in response to Ridpath’s personal behavior rather than the NCAA infractions.
“Summary Judgment should be granted in favor of the Defendants on the outrageous conduct claim because characterizing (Ridpath’s) transfer as a ‘corrective action’ due to his conduct during the NCAA Infractions Committee hearing, and terminating his adjunct teaching position as a result of (Ridpath) violating MU policy is not extreme and outrageous,” the document from Marshall said.
Marshall’s reply stated several reasons for Chambers to throw the case out. First and foremost, the Marshall document states that Ridpath “argues that his inability to gain employment as a compliance director was because of the characterization of his transfer as a ‘corrective action.’ His mediocre job performance and lack of professionalism have played, however, a significant role in his difficulty in finding employment. He demonstrated numerous unprofessional acts. ... ”
Examples provided by the university in the filing recall an argument between Ridpath and another assistant athletic director, who he admitted to calling various derogatory names. He also admitted to cursing at Pruett when the head coach tried to calm him down.
“Clearly (Ridpath) has created numerous reasons to bypass him in the hiring process in favor of another applicant,” the document states.
Pruett’s response document is based mostly on the accusations made by Ridpath that it was Pruett who made sure athletes were taken care of beyond what the NCAA allows, and it was Pruett who urged Angel to reassign Ridpath.
Pruett’s response also argues that Ridpath was not a tenured employee, nor did he have a multi-year contract.
“Ridpath has admitted he was employed ‘at the will and pleasure of the president of Marshall University for one year periods beginning in November 1997 until August 2004’,” Pruett’s response states. “He admits to being an at-will non-tenured employee. The only argument he presents in his Response regarding this element is that he expected to have continued employment. However, he presents no evidence supporting this expectation and no evidence that he was promised continued employment as a compliance director. West Virginia is an ‘at-will’ employment state where Ridpath was a non-tenured employee.”
The matter is scheduled for trial in December, and both attorneys anticipate resolving the case by the end of the year.
Following the NCAA investigation, Marshall University served four years probation, lost 15 scholarships in a three-year period and temporarily discontinued recruitment of academic non-qualifiers for two years.
Ridpath’s biography, listed on the Ohio University Athletics Department Web site, states that he earned his Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from West Virginia University in 2002, and worked in sports departments or on coaching staffs at Ohio University and Weber State University.
