Assignment 1: Press Release
Assignment 2: Discipline Decision
1. Do you discipline the coach at this time? If so, how?
Post the arrest of the coach of the football and after his abusive nature coming to the limelight, it becomes imperative that I should be looking into first discipline the coach. It is well said that a team follows their leader and the similar situation was seen in the case of the State University. Team member knew that the coach will not be looking into correcting them, hence they kept on going with their brawls. As the Coach has pleaded not guilty and still under contract with the University, we will be sending the coach for counseling sessions and his every action will be monitored for the next month, that is till his trial.
A similar situation was seen when the Football coach of the Bessemer City HS, Martez Edwards was arrested on the count of domestic abuse. Although the coach is out on bail still no one has been able to reach out to him for any comments (MyFoxal, 2014).
2. Can you require him to take a drug test? Why or why not?
At the moment, the University is not looking into conducting any drug test for the coach as this issue was never spoken about, either by his team or even the police department.
3. Can you obtain his criminal record of convictions?
Although the University failed to conduct the criminal background verification of the coach, post this arrest it is really important that they request for his criminal records as he has a year-long contract pending with the college. According to the report published on The Daily Texan, (2011), most of the top colleges failed to carry out criminal background checks or completely ignore the criminal record of a person they are employing.
4. What arguments will the coach have that such inquiries are inappropriate and that any discipline is unjustified?
The coach can pretty much come forwards and deem these inquiries inappropriate claiming it to be false rumors against him and any discipline against him is completely unjustified. He can certainly say that his job was to train and keep the team motivated to perform. His responsibility doesn’t extend to control the acts of the team members outside the University. He can definitely say that even though he has been arrested, he pleaded no guilty as he has done anything abusive at home.
5. What arguments will the university have that inquiry into criminal convictions is appropriate?
The University can come forwards stating that they had failed to conduct a criminal background check in the past, but as his recent arrest has raised speculations about his criminal acts, these inquiries are completely appropriate. They can certainly say that even if the coach has not done anything wrong in the past, it will make sure that his job is still available if he is pronounced not guilty in the court of law.
6. What rights and obligations does the university have?
It is the right of the University to get a complete background check performed on their employees, including their coach. They have the right to safeguard the interest of the college as well as the students of the college. The employees of the University have been given the right to their views hence if the coach didn’t want to get involved with the student’s brawl, and then University can’t hold any objection against this. The same ruling was passed in the case of O'Connor v. Ortega, (1987) wherein discussion inside the premise of a public employee should not be held against him in the court.
Assignment 3: Criminal Conviction
1. Can you and should you discipline him for anything related to this conviction? Why or why not?
I don’t think that the coach will need any discipline for anything related to his domestic violation conviction. He can certainly be disciplined for the ongoing rumors of him being physical with the team players.
2. Is he a danger to students and other employees at the college if he continues to work there?
At the moment, his current performance as the coach speaks to large volumes due to the fact that the University has been champions for 3 years. The Job profile requires the Coach’s to be hard on players sometimes; it is mainly to motivate and extract the best performance out of them. I don’t see any harm from the Coach’s end.
3. What do you do next time you hire a coach?
The current situation has clearly raised eyebrows on the recruitment methods of the University. If the University had performed a criminal check on the coach before hiring, probably they would not have faced this embarrassment.
Assignment 4: Criminal Conviction and State Law
1. Can you discipline coach O'Toole?
If the state doesn’t allow any discrimination in employment in terms of criminal record unless the crime is related to the job the person has applied for, discipline doesn’t come into the picture. Probably university can discipline the coach for not taking the initiative of correcting the students keeping the best interest of the college in mind. The University could have taken this denial as a warning sign that the teacher is not looking forward to correct the behavior of the students. The court has not been able to find the main reason behind the domestic violence case; hence a counseling session with the coach will be enough.
2. Is his crime related to his job?
This crime is no way related to the job, the coach has performed his duties as a teacher and brought the best performance out of the team member on the ground. His job is to train the student to play their best in the football field and not to discipline them outside the University.
References
Hughes, Hertz, and White's. (2013). Criminal Background Checks in U.S. Higher Education: A Review of Policy Developments, Process Implementations, and Post results Evaluation Procedures. Public Personnel Management, volume 42, issue 3, pages 421–437.
MyFoxal. (2014). Bessemer City HS football coach charged in domestic violence case. [Online] Available at http://www.myfoxal.com/story/26522466/bessemer-city-hs-football-coach-charged-in-domestic-violence-case [Accessed on 12th Nov].
Marty, McAndrews. (2011). Investigation finds universities dismiss recruits’ past crimes. [Online] Available at http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2011/03/22/investigation-finds-universities-dismiss-recruits%C2%92-past-crimes. [Accessed on 12th Nov 2014].
Menendez and Dillon's. (2012). Workplace Violence: Impact, Causes, and Prevention. Article from Work, volume 42, issue 1, pages 15–20.
O'CONNOR v. ORTEGA. (1987). [Online] Available at http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1986/1986_85_530. [Accessed on 12th Nov 2014].
