Sarkisian fired.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/10/12/9500783/steve-sarkisian-usc-coach-fired

Gee, who didn't see that coming?

Shortest leave of absence ever?

is USC opening themselves up for a wrongful termination claim???

I'm no walking HR manual but I'm pretty sure you can be fired while on a leave of absence and a quick google check found this

http://woman.thenest.com/can-employer-fire-taking-leave-absence-10966.html


If Sark gets paid (contract clause, etc) then I'm sure he'll just walk away but if USC is trying to save face and money then they could be fighting this in the courts for a long time to come.

shitty situation for SC fans IYAM

Substance abuse or dependence are recognized diagnoses, so I wondered if he might have a claim under American with Disabilities Act for wrongful termination.

dwoody wrote:

Substance abuse or dependence are recognized diagnoses, so I wondered if he might have a claim under American with Disabilities Act for wrongful termination.

They don't have to accommodate him so that he can drink on the job, no ADA expert but hard to see how it would apply here.

dwoody wrote:

Substance abuse or dependence are recognized diagnoses, so I wondered if he might have a claim under American with Disabilities Act for wrongful termination.

Absolutely, but he also has to prove that he can perform the duties of his job with accomodation. 1 days worth of treatment won't cut it.

wshoes wrote:

dwoody wrote:

Substance abuse or dependence are recognized diagnoses, so I wondered if he might have a claim under American with Disabilities Act for wrongful termination.

They don't have to accommodate him so that he can drink on the job, no ADA expert but hard to see how it would apply here.

This is my area, yes ythey do or at least show a good faith effort to accomodate Sark. This is a complex case though as part of the duties of a Head Coach is to attend fund-raisers where alcohol is present. This will be interesting. Personally, I don't think they gave Sark enough time to receive help, not that it would have fixed the issue.

My point, NBO. They were pretty quick to pull the trigger w NO time for treatment. That is where I think the ADA could come into play.

is this a good defense for USC?

"if your absence is causing the company undue hardship or financial loss."

that article I linked says that is ground for a termination.

recruits dropping, boosters tightening up, etc.

let's wait to see what his payout is first. Like I said, if he gets paid he'll probably just walk away and get help and not fight it.

Regardless it was mishandled. Suspend him indefinitely and let him deal with his addiction. Now he has to deal with the job loss too. You can always fire him. I am not speaking legally just morally. With additional reports of him leaving campus sobbing I feel like they just put him out on the street. Check him in somewhere for crying out loud.

He's a drunk and should be a role model for his players. They are absolutely within their rights to fire him IMO. He chose to drink, alcoholic or not.

His actions caused him to lose his job. Plain and simple. To much coddling in the U.S. these days. Take responsibility for your actions.

Great take. He "chose to drink." Apparently someone does not understand substance abuse.

Look I am the last one to pat someone on the ass when they need a kick in it. Still substance abuse is very tricky. HE SHOULD BE FIRED. You just do not do it without helping him get treatment first.

Feel free to read up on it-

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism

Well it looks like he had this problem at Washington ,so, is it USC's responsibility? Seems like if Washington knew about it, why didn't they get him help?

http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/steve-sarkisian-was-reiumbursed-by-washington-for-hefty-alcohol-bills/


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/steve-sarkisian-spent-big-booze-washington-report-article-1.2394176

If you want to go that route than they shouldn't have hired them. They obviously did not do their duligence. Now it is there problem. Some things are bigger than the game. Bigger than wins. Look at the red carpet LSU rolled out for SC last week. They put the game aside for a minute and they made both SC and the fans feel at home. That is how you handle life issues IMO.

Don't you think he'd been placed on probation after the instance where he was drunk at the booster event before the season? They banned alcohol from the locker room- I don't think that was because of the players. He was apparently drunk at the ASU game and again at practice Monday.

My guess is that the one day leave of absence was that it took their lawyers that long to convince them that they were safe in firing him.

wshoes wrote:

Don't you think he'd been placed on probation after the instance where he was drunk at the booster event before the season? They banned alcohol from the locker room- I don't think that was because of the players. He was apparently drunk at the ASU game and again at practice Monday.

My guess is that the one day leave of absence was that it took their lawyers that long to convince them that they were safe in firing him.

Yeah, that would be my guess, also.

MgoBlue wrote:

Great take.  He "chose to drink."  Apparently someone does not understand substance abuse.  

Look I am the last one to pat someone on the ass when they need a kick in it.  Still substance abuse is very tricky.  HE SHOULD BE FIRED.  You just do not do it without helping him get treatment first.

Feel free to read up on it-

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism

As someone who beat alcohol addiction, this is somewhat true. He should not be able to keep his job because he does work with children as stated above. But it is not a 'choice'. It may be in the beginning, but then it becomes a need whether you want it or not. If his addiction is as bad as it seems, he either had to try to get away with consuming, or dealing with withdrawals. The later would be much more difficult to hide.

I'm sure they will do whatever they can to help him, but releasing him of his coaching duties was the right call.

I completely understand substance abuse.  I also think it can be a crutch. Let's not pretend that if USC was winning at the rate the school wants, this would be covered and taken care of.

I worked with a functioning alcoholic for a couple of years. he chose to retire rather than get fired when he was found to be drunk at work. he was lucky enough to be retired from the military and have 20+ years at my company so financially it wasn't a hard choice for him.

I didn't find out about his problem until I heard he passed away (from drinking) a few years later. I never once smelled it on him and never once suspected him of being sauced up at work.

The Sarkasian situation seems to be different all together. I'm sure what shoes said is probably what happened. It probably didn' take them long to find cause. for all we know, USC did their homework and there was something in his contract about drinking.

I guess we'll just have to wait to see how this plays out.

I haven't looked/read anything about this today. Is the word still out there that Pat Haden might get caught up in all of this issue and get canned?

Go Blue!!

fishgoblue22 wrote:

I completely understand substance abuse.  I also think it can be a crutch.  Let's not pretend that if USC was winning at the rate the school wants, this would be covered and taken care of.

That sentence alone says that you do not.

TheNewBlueOrder wrote:

fishgoblue22 wrote:

I completely understand substance abuse.  I also think it can be a crutch.  Let's not pretend that if USC was winning at the rate the school wants, this would be covered and taken care of.

That sentence alone says that you do not.

So, if USC is winning 10 games a year do you think this would be a problem for them? Nope.

Also, it's a bunch of people here that are trying to make something out of this. Has Sarcasian? Nope.

Yes I do believe if $c was winning this would still be a deal, maybe not during the season but come the day-after signing day it would become immense. And even then I'm not so sure that it would take that long. Recruits are already bolting.

Addiction is a disease, not a choice.

sorry but drinking on campus and before a game or practice by a coach is more than enough cause for termination ... whether you consider the problem a disease or not he made the decision to drink on the job ... end of story .... that aside hopefully he gets the serious help he most definitely needs

https://twitter.com/schadjoe/status/654129243048181761

BOLEACH7 wrote:

sorry but drinking on campus and before a game or practice by a coach is more than enough cause for termination ... whether you consider the problem a disease or not he made the decision to drink on the job ... end of story .... that aside hopefully he gets the serious help he most definitely needs

+100