More than two years after he was fired, a former Virginia Union University men’s basketball coach is taking another shot at his former employer.
Willard Coker
Willard Coker used a court-approved do-over and last week filed a new defamation lawsuit against Virginia Union, claiming the school harmed his reputation and has prevented him from getting a new coaching job since he was let go in March 2011.
The alleged defamation, the suit claims, goes back to statements school Athletic Director Michael Bailey made to a reporter shortly after Coker’s dismissal.
The suit claims that Bailey told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Coker was released for “shortfalls” in “recruiting good student athletes.” These statements, the suit alleges, were false.
“We think [Coker has] been harmed, and we hope that we will be able to attain some sort of relief and justice for him,” said Richard Hawkins, a lawyer with the Hawkins Law Firm who is representing Coker.
Coker has not had a coaching job since his dismissal and is seeking employment in the field, Hawkins said. He is suing for loss of income and reputational harm and is seeking more than $2 million in damages.
Coker, who coached the VUU men’s basketball team from 2008 to 2011, filed a similar lawsuit in March 2012. The original suit alleged only defamation against VUU, Hawkins said. A Richmond judge last year ruled against Coker, saying he failed to properly state his case. But the judge did not throw out the case, as VUU requested, giving Coker a second chance.
The amended suit adds a count of aiding and abetting defamation, alleging that Bailey provided false statements to the Times-Dispatch knowing the newspaper would “publicly defame” Coker by linking alleged recruiting shortfalls to Coker’s termination.
The lawsuit alleges that Bailey never mentioned recruiting when he told Coker his contract would not be renewed.
Instead, the suit said, Bailey told Coker that he was concerned about an altercation between an assistant coach and a VUU player, that he worried the team would struggle in the next season and that NCAA tournament runs by VCU and the University of Richmond were drawing attention away from VUU’s program.
Coker was fired amid unexpected tournament runs by the VCU and UR men’s basketball teams. Both teams reached the Sweet 16, and VCU played in the Final Four just days after Coker was let go.
Both VCU and UR were led by coaches in their 30s. The 12-page lawsuit alleges VUU cut ties with Coker in hopes of making headlines with a fresh face of its own. VUU hired Luqman Jaaber, a “young gun,” the lawsuit said, who at the time was 30 and is 22 years Coker’s junior. Jaaber was an assistant under Coker from 2008 to 2010 and won a national championship as a player at VUU in 2005.
VUU and a team of McGuireWoods lawyers last year argued that the first suit did not meet state defamation statutes because the newspaper did not quote Bailey directly about the reason for Coker’s dismissal. The school further asserted the alleged comments were constitutionally protected statements of opinion.
Messages for Bailey and VUU Director of Public Relations Vanessa Coombs were not returned by press time.
Coker, a former VUU assistant, was promoted after former head coach Dave Robbins’s retirement in 2008. In 30 seasons under Robbins, the VUU Panthers won more than 700 games and three Division II national championships. Coker was a part of all three national championships, as a player in 1980 and as an assistant coach in under Robbins in 1992 and 2005. The lawsuit called Coker “the obvious choice to replace Robbins.”
The Panthers went 55-25 in three seasons under Coker. They had one NCAA tournament bid but could not manage a tournament victory. In the two years since Coker’s departure, the team has posted a 25-29 record, losing each season in the first round of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament.
More than two years after he was fired, a former Virginia Union University men’s basketball coach is taking another shot at his former employer.
Willard Coker
Willard Coker used a court-approved do-over and last week filed a new defamation lawsuit against Virginia Union, claiming the school harmed his reputation and has prevented him from getting a new coaching job since he was let go in March 2011.
The alleged defamation, the suit claims, goes back to statements school Athletic Director Michael Bailey made to a reporter shortly after Coker’s dismissal.
The suit claims that Bailey told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Coker was released for “shortfalls” in “recruiting good student athletes.” These statements, the suit alleges, were false.
“We think [Coker has] been harmed, and we hope that we will be able to attain some sort of relief and justice for him,” said Richard Hawkins, a lawyer with the Hawkins Law Firm who is representing Coker.
Coker has not had a coaching job since his dismissal and is seeking employment in the field, Hawkins said. He is suing for loss of income and reputational harm and is seeking more than $2 million in damages.
Coker, who coached the VUU men’s basketball team from 2008 to 2011, filed a similar lawsuit in March 2012. The original suit alleged only defamation against VUU, Hawkins said. A Richmond judge last year ruled against Coker, saying he failed to properly state his case. But the judge did not throw out the case, as VUU requested, giving Coker a second chance.
The amended suit adds a count of aiding and abetting defamation, alleging that Bailey provided false statements to the Times-Dispatch knowing the newspaper would “publicly defame” Coker by linking alleged recruiting shortfalls to Coker’s termination.
The lawsuit alleges that Bailey never mentioned recruiting when he told Coker his contract would not be renewed.
Instead, the suit said, Bailey told Coker that he was concerned about an altercation between an assistant coach and a VUU player, that he worried the team would struggle in the next season and that NCAA tournament runs by VCU and the University of Richmond were drawing attention away from VUU’s program.
Coker was fired amid unexpected tournament runs by the VCU and UR men’s basketball teams. Both teams reached the Sweet 16, and VCU played in the Final Four just days after Coker was let go.
Both VCU and UR were led by coaches in their 30s. The 12-page lawsuit alleges VUU cut ties with Coker in hopes of making headlines with a fresh face of its own. VUU hired Luqman Jaaber, a “young gun,” the lawsuit said, who at the time was 30 and is 22 years Coker’s junior. Jaaber was an assistant under Coker from 2008 to 2010 and won a national championship as a player at VUU in 2005.
VUU and a team of McGuireWoods lawyers last year argued that the first suit did not meet state defamation statutes because the newspaper did not quote Bailey directly about the reason for Coker’s dismissal. The school further asserted the alleged comments were constitutionally protected statements of opinion.
Messages for Bailey and VUU Director of Public Relations Vanessa Coombs were not returned by press time.
Coker, a former VUU assistant, was promoted after former head coach Dave Robbins’s retirement in 2008. In 30 seasons under Robbins, the VUU Panthers won more than 700 games and three Division II national championships. Coker was a part of all three national championships, as a player in 1980 and as an assistant coach in under Robbins in 1992 and 2005. The lawsuit called Coker “the obvious choice to replace Robbins.”
The Panthers went 55-25 in three seasons under Coker. They had one NCAA tournament bid but could not manage a tournament victory. In the two years since Coker’s departure, the team has posted a 25-29 record, losing each season in the first round of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament.