Rick Pitino sues Louisville Athletic Association for $37.6 million

Former coach Rick Pitino has sued the University of Louisville Athletic Association for $37.6 million, saying it breached his contract by placing him on unpaid administrative leave without notice and then firing him last month with no legally justified cause.

Rick Pitino files federal breach of contract lawsuit Thursday against Louisville's athletic association

Much smarter than suing Adidas...

Much smarter than suing Adidas...

It appears that he's learned that he's not going to win a lawsuit against Adidas because they are willing to tell the whole story. So now he's likely thinking he can use the same leverage Adidas is using over him, against Louisville. This should be fun. I expect UL will settle out of court to keep more information from coming out.

It appears that he's learned that he's not going to win a lawsuit against Adidas because they are willing to tell the whole story. So now he's likely thinking he can use the same leverage Adidas is using over him, against Louisville. This should be fun. I expect UL will settle out of court to keep more information from coming out.

Yup. Been saying this since the beginning.

Suing Adidas was a terrible idea.

Suing UL will produce a nice check and won't see a court room.

Yup. Been saying this since the beginning.

Suing Adidas was a terrible idea.

Suing UL will produce a nice check and won't see a court room.

I agree. I still can't figure out why he sued Adidas in the first place, they were helping him out the whole time. :lol2:

What is the thinking behind filing in federal court versus state court? The presiding judge giving him a fairer shake?

Do they have some type of insurance to cover this type of lawsuit? If not and they lose, what will that do to the budget?

Do they have some type of insurance to cover this type of lawsuit? If not and they lose, what will that do to the budget?

Yes they definitely do. But the ULAA board handled this so ham-handedly that there will plenty of reason now to skyrocket the group’s future premiums.

As for what happens if the university ends up on the hook for this, I don’t know. What he’s sued is the athletic association, which operates as a separate non-profit different from the university. Certainly there are payments that go back and forth between the two entities—the university sends the ULAA annual payments in athletics fees taken from students and the Association sends money to the university in the form of athletic scholarship money for tuition—but I don’t know if they’re enough to pierce the separation between them. If Pitino sues the ULAA and wins and the ULAA ultimately pays out some of it, ends up in the red and folds, the Pitino may be out of luck on the rest of it if these entities were well-structured.

But that’s a lot of speculation on my part.

What is the thinking behind filing in federal court versus state court? The presiding judge giving him a fairer shake?

Not just the presiding judge. If this does go to trial, the federal jury that would be selected comes from a much bigger area (I don’t do much federal practice but I believe the entire Western District of Kentucky can be called upon to serve). In a state court filing, that jury pool would only be drawn from Jefferson County.

Huge kahunas...huge

Huge kahunas...huge

Yep. But what does he have to lose at this point?

Yep. But what does he have to lose at this point?

I guess that depends on what he's still got hidden in his closet. If he doesn't give a rip out his reputation and only about the money have at. But if he has more dirt that could come out, it could destroy his legacy.

I guess that depends on what he's still got hidden in his closet. If he doesn't give a rip out his reputation and only about the money have at. But if he has more dirt that could come out, it could destroy his legacy.

I get what you're saying, but his legacy has already been totally ruined.

I get what you're saying, but his legacy has already been totally ruined.

Maybe but I think at this point if he just moves on, he could get a TV job in a year or two and still salvage some of his rep. Problem is his ego just won't let that happen.

I agree. I still can't figure out why he sued Adidas in the first place, they were helping him out the whole time. :lol2: