IN THE COURT OF CLAIMS OF OHIO DENNIS FELTON ) CASENO. 40 Memorial Highway, Apt 29F ) New Rochelle, NY 10801 ) JUDGE: ) Plaintiff ) ) vs. ) ) CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY ) 2121 Euclid Avenue ) Cleveland, Ohio 44115 ) COMPLAINT ) Please Serve: ) Sonali B. Wilson ) Office of General Counsel ) Cleveland State University ) 2121 Euclid Avenue, AC 327 ) Cleveland, Ohio 44115-2214 ) ) Defendant ) Plaintiff Dennis Felton ("Plaintiff' or "Mr. Felton"), for his Complaint against Defendant Cleveland State University ("CSU"), states as follows: I. INTRODUCTION 1. CSU employed Mr. Felton as its head men's basketball coach from April of 2017 until July 12, 2019. 2. The terms of Mr. Felton's employment were set forth in an Employment Agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit A. 3. On July 12,2019, CSU terminated Mr. Felton's employment. 4. Under the terms of the Employment Agreement between Mr. Felton and CSU, CSU was required to make certain payments to Mr. Felton following the termination of his employment unless he was terminated for cause, under Section 6.0 of the Employment Agreement. Case#: 2019-01006JD Ohio Court of Claims Filed Date: 10/3/2019 8:00AM By:JH Envelope ID: 21830 5. When CSU terminated Mr. Felton's employment, it had no basis for doing so for cause under Section 6.0 of the Employment Agreement 6. As a result, Mr. Felton was entided to receive from CSU the payments described in the Employment Agreement. 7. CSU has not provided Mr. Felton with any of the payments due to him under the Employment Agreement. 8. CSU has breached its contractual comtnitments and, as a result, Mr. Felton is entided to recover damages in excess of$1,000,000.00. II. PARTIES 9. Plaintiff Dennis Felton was a resident of Cuyahoga County, Ohio at all times relevant to this action. Mr. Felton is a successful and experienced basketball coach with a 35-year career as a coach and executive at both the NBA and collegiate levels. Mr. Felton has 13 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, with an excellent graduation rate, having only 2 student athletes not graduate. In 11 seasons prior to becoming the head coach at CSU, Mr. Felton's teams won 7 championships. 10. Defendant CSU is an instrumentality of the State of Ohio, with its principal place of business in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. III. FACTS RELATED TO ALL CLAIMS 11. This action arises from CSU's breach of an Employment Agreement it made with Mr. Felton. 12. CSU committed to employ Mr. Felton for 5 years as the head coach of its men's basketball team on the terms described in the Employment Agreement. 13. In describing CSU's right to tenninate Mr. Felton's employment, the Employment Agreement distinguishes between a termination for cause and a termination for other reasons. 2 14. In the event that CSU tettninated Mr. Felton under Section 6.0, the Employment Agreement does not require that CSU provide him with compensation and benefits. However, the Employment Agreement requires CSU to pay Mr. Felton liquidated damages, deferred compensation, and benefits if it terminates him for reasons other than those in Section 6.0. Sections 6.2(a) through 6.2(c) of the Employment Agreement describe the liquidated damages, deferred compensation, and benefits owed to Mr. Felton. 15. The Employment Agreement describes only limited circumstances that would justify CSU terminating Mr. Felton for cause, which are listed in Section 6.0 of the Employment Agreement. 16. Although there are nearly three years remaining on the Term of the Employment Agreement, CSU abrupdy terminated Mr. Felton on July 12, 2019. 17. On July 10,2019, CSU Director of Athletics Scott Garrett texted Mr. Felton, who was in Atlanta on a recruiting trip, and demanded that he meet with Mr. Gru:tett at 5:30 pm in Cleveland that day. 18. Mr. Felton changed his schedule and traveled back to Cleveland to meet with Mr. Garrett the following day, on July 11, 2019. 19. During the noon meeting on July 11, 2019, Mr. Garrett stated that CSU was going in a different direction with the basketball program, and that Mr. Felton needed to choose by 10:00 am the next morning whether to resign or be fired. Mr. Garrett wasn't prepared to offer Mr. Felton any document memorializing his reasons for termination or any explanation of the proposed tennination and/ or resignation terms. As such, Mr. Felton requested that CSU put its reasons for terminating his employment in writing. 20. Later that same day, on July 11, 2019, Mr. Garrett emailed Mr. Felton a draft termination letter, which stated that CSU was terminating his employment effective the next day. 3 21. In furtherance of its desire to avoid fulfilling the substantial financial commitments it made to him, CSU attempted to coerce Mr. Felton into waiving his rights and any potential claims he may have under the Employment Agreement by pressuring Mr. Felton to resign. 22. Immediately after his meeting with Mr. Garrett on July 11, 2019, Mr. Felton retained counsel who contacted CSU. Mr. Felton's counsel requested that CSU reconsider its decision to terminate Mr. Felton. CSU refused, and instead, officially issued the Termination Letter to Mr. Felton on July 12, 2019. A copy of the Termination Letter is attached hereto as Exhibit B. 23. The Termination Letter is filled with material inaccuracies in an obvious effort to distort the facts and establish grounds for a termination under Section 6.0 of the Employment Agreement, where no grounds existed. 24. In it, Mr. Ganett inaccurately accuses Mr. Felton of failing to report potential dating violence and traffic violations of basketball team members. 25. Mr. Garrett misrepresents the academic performance of the 2018-2019 men's basketball team and incoming recruits to the team. During his 4 semesters and 3 summers at CSU, Mr. Felton's teams had cumulative team GPAs similar to those of the prior long-standing coach Gary Waters' teams. In addition, CSU supplies no academic tutors for its student athletes on the men's basketball team, an oddity for a Division I program where most student athletes typically require significant assistance with college studies, especially considering the additional stress of missed class time for team travel. 26. Mr. Garrett also mischaracterizes the conduct of one of Mr. Felton's assistant coaches, and wrongly accuses Mr. Felton of knowing of an assistant coach's attempt to receive a loan from a player's family. 27. Finally, Mr. Garrett incorrectly attributes the departure of four players on the 2018- 2019 team to Mr. Felton's coaching. In 2018, the NCAA granted athletes more freedom by opening 4 the transfer portal, allowing student athletes to enter their name online to be recruited by other programs and transfer without seeking counsel or permission from a school or a coach. Within one week of the 2019 NCAA tournament ending, there were already more than 700 departures from Division I schools.1 Approximately 40% of all Division I basketball players who come directly from high school transfer by the end of their sophomore year.2 28. During the 2018-2019 season and thereafter, 74 Division I schools had 5 or more players enter the transfer portal. 37 Division I teams had 6 or more players in the transfer portal. CSU had 5 players enter the portal during Mr. Felton's tenure. Additional players entered the portal after Mr. Felton's departure. A list of all players on the 2019 NCAA transfer portal for men's basketball is attached hereto as Exhibit C. 29. The statements in CSU's Termination Letter were included to further CSU's desire to avoid fulfilling the financial commitments it made to Mr. Felton in the Employment Agreement. 30. CSU also summarily terminated Mr. Felton's entire coaching staff the same day he was terminated, July 12,2019. 31. CSU terminated Mr. Felton without warning or affording him the opportunity to share all of the facts relating to the conduct that purportedly justified his termination. 32. CSU made its determination to terminate Mr. Felton hastily and without justification. 33. The Temunation Letter falsely asserts that CSU had authority to ternlinate Mr. Felton for cause pursuant to Section 6.0 of the Employment Agreement. 34. Section 6.0 of the Employment Agreement allows CSU to terminate Mr. Felton for cause if he commits one of the nine infractions listed in Section 6.0. However, each of the subsections 1 "College basketball transferrankings for 2019-20 and 2020-21" httos://www.espn.com/mens-college­ basketball/story/ /id/265 30279/college-basketball-transfer-rankings-20 19-20-2020-21 . 2 "Tracking transfer in Division I Men's Basketball" http://www.ncaa.org/about!resources/research/tracking­ transfer-division-i-men-s-basketball . 5 that CSU relies on for its termination of Mr. Felton (6.0(d), (e), (t), (h) and (i)) requires that CSU give Mr. Felton Notice of his termination within thirty (30) days, and in most instances provide him with ten (1 0) days to cure. 35. Many of the issues CSU identified in its Termination Letter occurred well in excess of thirty (30) days prior to CSU's termination of Mr. Felton. The Termination Letter states that CSU will not afford Mr. Felton the opportunity to cure any of the alleged wrongdoing. 36. When CSU terminated Mr. Felton, it had no basis for doing so for cause under Section 6.0 of the Employment Agreement. 37. CSU terminated Mr. Felton for reasons other than those defined in Section 6.0. 38. As a result, Mr. Felton was entided to receive from CSU liquidated datnages, compensation, and benefits as provided for in Sections 6.2(a) through 6.2(c) of the Employment Agreement.