Hardwick Lawyer: Former UConn Players Might Be Asked To Testify In Auriemma Case
By JOHN
ALTAVILLA, jaltavilla@courant.com The Hartford Courant
6:21 p.m.
EDT, June 13,
2012
The lawyer representing NBA
security director Kelley Hardwick in her employment discrimination lawsuit
against Geno
Auriemma , the NBA and USA Basketball said Wednesday that a possible trial
might not take place for years and that former UConn
players might be called to testify.
"It could take two to three years for the case to be heard," said Randolph M.
McLaughlin, counsel for New York law firm Newman Ferrara LLP. "There needs to be
a discovery phase, we'll need to bring Auriemma in, put him in a witness chair
and take his deposition, along with those of any players who were present [since
Auriemma's hiring by USA Basketball in 2009].
"It can be a very nasty business. It could be settled before [the London
Olympics in August], but it all depends on what USA Basketball and the NBA want
to do. I'm willing to have a conversation, but no one has reached out."
Hardwick, 46, claims that a rebuff of an attempted kiss from Auriemma in the
hallway of a hotel in Russia in 2009 ultimately caused the UConn and OIympic
coach to push for her removal from the U.S. women's security detail for the
London Olympic games, a job she held in 2004 and 2008.
While it's expected that NBA and USA Basketball attorneys will handle the
defense, Auriemma's personal attorney, Sol Kerensky, said Wednesday that his
firm, Kahan, Kerensky and Capossella, will work in conjunction with the
others.
"In the end, everything will come out," Auriemma told SNY Tuesday night.
"This issue is going to be dealt with by attorneys and people who live in that
world. Me ... my focus is making sure that everything that I do with my family,
with my team at UConn, with my Olympic team and everything going forward, that
that's my focus right now as opposed to anything else that might be going
on.''
Auriemma, 58, said there is nothing he can do to prevent how people feel
about him as a result of the lawsuit.
"I think any time people are talking about you whether it's good, whether
it's bad, whether they're complimenting you or whether they're criticizing you,
I think all that has an affect on you and your friends and your family. And I
guess that's just the price of being in the public eye in 2012 America.''
In the lawsuit filed Monday, Hardwick claims that during a conference call
with league and arena security personnel on March 22, she was informed of her
reassignment and that she was told Auriemma had requested it through USA
Basketball CEO and Executive Director Jim Tooley. Two days later, Hardwick was
removed from her position.
A source close to USA Basketball told The Courant Monday that Hardwick's
reassignment resulted not from Auriemma's insistence, but because of problems
relating to her performance since Auriemma's hiring.
McLaughlin said he has a letter from Tooley that praises Hardwick's work
performance, although he did not say when it was issued. Hartwick has held her
job since 2002.
"She did not have a problem with USA Basketball until Geno showed up,"
McLaughlin said. "So I ask myself, 'Well then, what happened that caused this
problem with a security professional, when there was no problem before. ... We tie
it to the incident in Russia and the things that followed. That is our opinion
for what motivated this case."
McLaughlin reiterated that Hardwick was intent to let the alleged incident
with Auriemma in Russia pass until she was informed that the coach had played a
role in her reassignment.
"She dealt with what happened in 2009 by reporting it to her superiors,"
McLaughlin said. "At that point, she felt she had taken care of it. She tried to
move on and perform her duties. It wasn't until he decided to reach back and ...
interfere with her employment, that this has happened."
USA Basketball officials have maintained public silence since the suit was
filed. Tuesday, spokesman Craig
Miller told The Courant that USA Basketball would not divulge the reason for
Hardwick's reassignment since it would all be revealed "with due process."
However, a source close to the situation has told The Courant that USA
Basketball's chances of using Hardwick's job performance as a reason could be
compromised by the lack of substantive evidence in her job file. Apparently,
there is little or no official documentation that spells out problems with her
work.
And should the case come to trial, it's very likely, according to McLaughlin,
that players long connected with Auriemma's legacy at UConn will be asked to
testify in an effort to further the prosecution's case. Sue Bird , Diana Taurasi , Swin Cash , Tina Charles, Asjha Jones and
Maya Moore are all former Huskies on the Olympic team.
"If it's true that [Hardwick] said things [to USA players] that were
inappropriate, then we need to find out which players they were and let's talk
to them," McLaughlin said. "I am not aware of anything relating to that. And
when she was told she would not continue with USA Basketball in her current
capacity, no one mentioned that to her."
McLaughlin said state law allowed him to file the case in New York, despite
Auriemma's Manchester residency, because Hardwick lives in New York.
"There is a statute in New York called the long-arm statute, which allows,
under certain circumstances, if someone causes injury to some in the state, to
reach out and bring them back in," he said.
He also said there was a reason no complaint was filed with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission .
"Under EEOC law, the plaintiff has 300 days after the event of discrimination
to file a complaint with the agency ... " McLaughlin said. "But under New York
state and New York City law, I don't have to file before an agency. I can go
straight to the court and go back three years. I can go all the way back to
2009."
* * *
For additional information about the Hardwick case, please call Newman Ferrara attorney, Professor Randolph McLaughlin, at 212-619-5400
