A federal district court in New Hampshire ruled in favor of Dartmouth on Wednesday in a wrongful discrimination suit filed by former defensive football coach Pat O'Leary in Oct. 2005. O'Leary, who worked as a defensive coach for Dartmouth football from 1989 until he was fired in 2005, claimed that he was dismissed by Head Coach Buddy Teevens '79 because of his age. He was 57 at the time of his dismissal.
After deliberations, which began on Tuesday evening and continued yesterday, the eight-man jury ruled that the preponderance of evidence did not prove that the College used age as a critical factor in deciding not to rehire O'Leary after his contract expired at the end of 2004. Had the jury ruled in his favor, O'Leary, who could not be reached for comment, stood to gain over $40,000 in compensatory damages from the College.
"Dartmouth is pleased that the jury rejected Mr. O'Leary's claim. The Athletic Department and Dartmouth College take pride in our strong anti-discrimination policies," Athletic Director Josie Harper said in a statement on Wednesday. "The jury's verdict that we did not violate the law in this case is reassuring."
On Tuesday, O'Leary, who now coaches at Holy Cross College in Worchester, Mass., restated that he did not receive a fair evaluation on his coaching or recruiting abilities before his dismissal, but was instead told by Teevens that Dartmouth needed younger coaches. During Tuesday's testimony, however, Edward Haffer, Dartmouth's lead attorney in the case, cited a coaching evaluation written by Teevens in 1990, according to the Valley News. Haffer also stressed the unstable nature of the college football coaching profession.
Throughout the trial Dartmouth maintained that the College honored O'Leary's contract and that Teevens, who was hired as Head Coach in Jan. 2005, had the right to fill the assistant coaching positions. O'Leary was replaced by James Jones, who graduated from Texas Southern University in 1997. Jones left Dartmouth after the 2005 season for a position on the Kansas State football coaching staff. Of Teevens' nine-man coaching staff, eight graduated from college after 1993.
"I am pleased to have this matter finally resolved," Teevens said in a statement on Wednesday. "When I came back to Dartmouth, I tried to assemble a coaching staff that could help me return Dartmouth football to a winning tradition. I was very disappointed by Pat's allegations, which have been a distraction from my work with my student athletes and my fellow coaches."
O'Leary's dismissal was preceded by seven consecutive losing seasons. Before coming to Dartmouth, O'Leary was the defensive coordinator for Columbia University.
