Just when you thought that Andy Oliver was suing the world, he adds his future Alma Mater to the fold. As a site that has been dedicated to the coverage of the ongoing Andy Oliver affair, SportsAgentBlog.com had received first word that Oklahoma State University is now one of the Defendants on the second amended Complaint filed by Oliver’s attorneys. Let’s jump right into the relevant paragraphs of the newly filed Complaint in relation to OSU:
61. Under the Defendant OSU’s Student Code of Conduct, the Plaintiff had a right to the following: “Accused students have the right to: 1. a written notice of the alleged violation(s); 2. have no code violation assumed until proven; 3. a timely hearing; 4. be accompanied by an adviser… 5. review the evidence; 6. question his/her accuser, either directly or indirectly, at the discretion of the hearing panel chair; 7. question witnesses…; 8. present material witnesses; 9. waive his/her right to a formal hearing and have the matter resolved informally; 10. a written notification of the outcome of the hearing; 11. an avenue for appeal from a formal hearing.” OSU Student Code of Conduct Rule IV(B).
62. …there was not written notice provided of what he was alleged to have done wrong, he was presumed guilty rather than innocent, there was no hearing, no advisor, no opportunity to review evidence…
63. Instead, the Defendant OSU did the following…
Basically says that OSU violated the anti-contact rule and illegally used confidential attorney-client privileged information.
64. In Gestapo-like fashion, the Defendants OSU & NCAA interviewed the Plaintiff without an attorney present…which additionally violated the anti-contact rule…
A Jewish judge (do they have any in Erie County, Ohio?) would eat that up.
12 replies on “Oliver Adds OSU As A Defendant”
Thanks for the excellent reporting on this matter. As an OSU grad who played baseball at OSU I am unhappy it had to come to the point OSU was also named a defendant. I am sure the OSU compliance officer who questioned Oliver would only have been concerned with whether or not he was handling the matter in a way that would keep OSU in step with NCAA rules. Unfortunately the OSU Student Code of Conduct requires students to cooperate with any OSU official to include the compliance officers who work for the Athletic Department. The open-ended nature pertaining to any discipline OSU decides to administer would certainly in my mind mean OSU had a duty to give Andy Oliver due process under the policies contained in that Code of Conduct.
Everything pertaining to OSU’s conduct must be considered in the context of the involvement by the NCAA through its bylaws which apparently required OSU to immediately suspend Oliver since OSU also received the letter with allegations from the agent firm. This whole sorry matter could have been avoided if the NCAA had fair-minded and common-sense rules regarding allegations that have yet to be investigated and in which the due process rights of student-athletes are thoroughly protected.
As it stands now the NCAA has ludicrous policies especially as it pertains to baseball players and the NCAA by denying it had any role in Oliver being suspended I believe will make many people believe the NCAA is hypocritical and cowardly in its conduct towards those people they often refer to as “student-athletes”. It appears current NCAA rules as stated in their bylaws coerce member instututions into sometimes doing stupid and damaging things to student-athletes and I can certainly understand why Oliver’s lawyer used the term “Gestapo-like fashion”. Those are the exact words many OSU fans were using during the NCAA regional games when discussing the NCAA’s involvement.
.
Some related links to the story:
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/07/17/sports/doc487ed0f7adb77470928581.txt
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/07/18/sports/doc4880154da7449982064892.txt
Sounds like the attorney for OSU may be in hot water here, too. I think it is very possible that Oliver expected the OSU lawyer was also looking out for his interests in that an attorney-client relationship could have been formed. At the very least, he is probably going to get to trial on the breach of trust and fiduciary duties claims (i.e. survive summary judgment on this issue).
Looks like Andy got screwed over by people he trusted (Barratas – OSU).
Boy, what a mess this is.
Is there ANY way this ends positively for all three sides? Will there be any hard feelings between Andy and OK ST when its all done??
Darren,
Do you see this going to trial? That seems like it could take a LONG time if that ends up being the case…
I personally believe that Oliver and Baratta settle. Chances are that the same will result with Icon Sports. I do not see the NCAA nor OSU settling, though. In the end, your guess is as good as mine.
Thanks Darren..
If my guess is as good as yours, then what IS your guess?
I just can’t see a 20-year old kid dragging out a lawsuit trial against the NCAA and OSU, especially during the school year. I mean, it just seems like a HUGE distraction and I personally don’t see this ending well. If Oliver gets his eligibility back, does he just drop the suit? This one could go MANY ways, yet I have a hard time seeing which way it indeed will go.
Hasn’t Oliver’s lawyer said that all he wants is his eligibility back?
Sounds like he may have violated NCAA rules (or rather the Barrata bros. violated the rules). Not sure what kind of suspension is warranted where someone negotiates on your behalf?
Perhaps he settles with Barrata and Icon, but sounds like those groups may need to pay dearly for the legal and ethical violations.
In any event, I can’t see a player ever using the Barrata group again.
MKJones-
I said that I believe that Andy will settle with Barrata bros and Icon Group. I also think that once he gets reinstated, he drops the case against OSU/NCAA…too big of a battle to take on by himself.
Cruz-
Maybin is a client of Barratas…from what I hear, he is very happy with them. Who knows, though.
What I see is time rapidly running out. It looks like several parties to the lawsuit are aleady stalling in responding to the complaints. The fall semester begins in a few weeks not months or years.
I have read the NCAA handbook regarding a school trying to get the NCAA to reinstate an athlete. After reading it is obvious to me the NCAA has set up a process that could take forever. And yet the NCAA also says they had no hand in the suspension of Andy. Hopefully the judge will sooner rather than later stop the stalling and at least issue a temporary restraining order against the NCAA.
I am predicting a temporary restraining order that in the words of one of Darren’s articles says “Let Andy Play” while all the supposed adults in this sorry affair face each other in a circle and start shooting at each other till all of them have finally owned up to what they did to a student athlete who they apparently thought right after being drafted as an 18 year old high schooler should have put everything on hold while he got hold of the NCAA Handbook(huge numbers of pages) and became an expert in that Handbook and not trust the advisor who advertised to him the advisor knew everything there was to know regarding the NCAA Handbook and could be trusted to help the athlete with the process and preserve his future eligibility.
I’m betting every player on the 8 teams that recently participated in the College World Series and currently has an advisor and/or had an advisor in high school would have to be declared ineligible if they were singled out the way Andy was for violating NCAA Bylaw 12.3.2.1 Presence of a Lawyer at Negotiations which defines direct contact with a professional organization as beng in person, by telephone or by mail.
The defendants in this case filed a notice of removal last week to take the lawsuit out of County Courts and to a Federal Court in Toledo, which is about an hour and a half west of Oliver’s hometown of Vermilion.
Another update….
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/07/26/sports/doc488aa88289378240449658.txt
Seems that the Barratas didn’t seek removal within the appropriate time frame? Not only do they appear to be bad and vindictive agents, they appear to be bad lawyers, too.