Rutgers Actually Could Have Fired Mike Rice For Violating His Contract

Rutgers President Robert Barchi

Yesterday during a press conference, Rutgers President Robert Barchi emphatically said that he fired abusive and slur-using men's basketball coach Mike Rice without cause. Which means Rutgers will have to pay Rice over $1 million. But it turns out that the independent investigation from last year noted that Rice could have been fired for violating his contract.

A video showing Rice abusing his players—throwing basketballs at their faces, calling them "f---ing fa---t"—was shown on ESPN on Tuesday, and Rice was fired the next day. Former assistant coach Eric Murdock had brought the video to Rutgers Athletics Director Tim Pernetti's attention (Murdock was protesting his own termination dispute with Rice) in November and, after an independent investigation, Pernetti opted to suspend and fine Rice, but not fired him. Here's part of the video:

Pernetti was forced to resign yesterday, but claimed, "As you know, my first instincts when I saw the videotape of Coach Rice's behavior was to fire him immediately. However, Rutgers decided to follow a process involving university lawyers, human resources professionals, and outside counsel." However, the NY Times reports, " Dr. Barchi placed the blame for the decision to suspend rather than fire Mr. Rice in December squarely on Mr. Pernetti and the university’s lawyers, saying he had not watched the video of Mr. Rice’s actions last fall and instead had relied on their descriptions of it."

Barchi didn't see the video until Tuesday, and moved for Rice's firing without cause. His contract allows him to collect over $1 million. But MyCentralNewJersey obtained Rice's contract and found language that could totally have given Rutgers the ability to fire Rice with cause:

“Material breach of this contract (won-loss record shall not constitute material breach), neglect of duty, willful misconduct, act(s) of moral turpitude, conduct tending to bring shame or disgrace to the University as determined in good faith by the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, violation of University regulations, policies, procedures or directives not remedied after thirty (30) days written notice, ... criminal conviction, or unapproved absence from duty, other than for a bona fide use of sick leave in accordance with University policy, without the consent of the director.”

In fact, the independent investigation found that even though they didn't think Rice created a “hostile work environment” (they found he cared for players), they did find he could be fired: “In sum, we believe there is sufficient evidence to find that certain actions of Coach Rice did ‘cross the line’ of permissible conduct and that such actions constituted harassment or intimidation within Rutgers’ Policy.... We believe that AD Pernetti could reasonably determine that Coach Rice’s actions tended to embarrass and bring shame or disgrace to Rutgers in violation of Coach Rice’s employment contract with Rutgers."

When asked if he would resign, Barchi joked that he thought about resigning every day when he wakes up. Rutgers board of trustees chair Ralph Izzo said, "I think he’s the right person to run this place for many years to come." Of course—because a group of trustees actually saw the video in December and didn't think that Rice deserved to be fired. Earlier this week, after his termination, Rice said, "I've let so many people down. My family, who's sitting in their house just huddled around because of the fact their father is, was, an embarrassment to them. It's troubling, but I will, at some time, maybe I'll try to explain it. But right now, there's no explanation for what's on those films because there is no excuse for it. I was wrong."

According to the Star-Ledger, "Pernetti will be paid more than $1.25 million for resigning as part of a settlement, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Friday. Pernetti also is still eligible to receive any bonus based on the success of Rutgers teams' athletic, financial or academic goals. He also gets to keep his laptop, iPad and car stipend until 2014, and his medical benefits and pension until 2015."