Kelvin Jefferson, let go in March after 4 years, claims Gannon must pay him for rest of what he says was contract extension set to end in 2026. He coached Golden Knights to a 3-23 record in 2022-23.
The former men's basketball coach at Gannon University has sued the school 10 days after his firing, claiming that Gannon is wrongfully refusing to pay him for the more than three years left on what he considered his four-year contract extension.
Kelvin Jefferson coached the NCAA Division II Golden Knights for four seasons before he was let go March 24 after a 3-23 season. He is claiming Gannon must continue to pay him his annual salary of $106,184 under the terms of the extension, which started July 1 and was to end on March 31, 2026.
Whether Jefferson had a legally binding contract with Gannon is expected to be pivotal part of the case.
Jefferson, 51, is not disputing that Gannon could fire him, according to his lawsuit, filed Monday in Erie County Common Pleas Court. He is claiming that the termination of him as coach still requires that Gannon honor the rest of his extension, a period of 39 months.
Gannon has refused to pay him the salary and benefits, including continued use of a leased vehicle and cell phone, Jefferson said in the suit. The university instead asked him to sign a release in which it would have paid him through June 30 in exchange for him agreeing not sue for "breach of contract" or other claims related to "his separation from employment," according to the proposed separation agreement attached to the suit.
Jefferson refused to sign the release, and also refused Gannon's offer that he resign instead of getting fired, the suit claims. The suit lists his final salary as $106,148, up from $104,000 the previous season.
Kelvin Jefferson was head coach of the Gannon men’s basketball team from April 2019 to March 2023. He is suing the university over his dismissal. Original source: ERIE TIMES-NEWS FILE
The suit claims that Jefferson "chose not to resign, having done absolutely nothing wrong nor breached any of his obligations towards Gannon University."
By refusing to honor the rest of the extension, Gannon "is in breach of its contractual obligations towards Mr. Jefferson, having manifested its intent not to pay Mr. Jefferson the salary and benefits to which he is entitled," the suit claims.
Gannon declines comment; defense could rely on definition of contract
A Gannon spokesman said the university had no comment, citing the pending litigation. The university will get a chance to respond to the lawsuit in court.
A possible defense could be that Gannon and Jefferson did not enter into a binding agreement because Gannon hired him via an appointment process rather than having him sign a traditional contract, according to documents attached to the suit.
The document that Jefferson signed for his extension states that his "four year appointment through March 31, 2026" is "contingent on satisfactory completion of position responsibilities and acceptable behaviors. All Gannon University policies and procedures apply."
In the suit, Jefferson's lawyer, John Mizner, seeks to preempt an argument that the appointment agreement was not the same as a contract.
"In the event that it is determined that no enforceable agreement between the parties exists," according to the suit, "Mr. Jefferson is entitled to the salary and other benefits promised."
The suit claims the legal doctrine of promissory estoppel would apply in such a situation. The doctrine holds, among other things, that a party may recover on the basis of a promise.
"To the extent their position is there is no contract, I can't believe they would have taken that position if the coach had left in the middle of a game and said he wasn't going to coach for the rest of the season," Mizner said in an interview. "A contract is a two-way street. He performed and they aren't."
Jefferson's lawyer cites Catholic teachings in contract claims
Jefferson tried to reach a deal with Gannon short of filing a suit, according to the suit. Mizner sent a letter to Gannon's president, Keith Taylor, on March 27, three days after the firing, asking that Gannon provide "a written assurance" by March 31 that it "fully intends to honor all terms of the current appointment."
The suit claims that Gannon never responded to the letter, which is attached to the suit.
Mizner in the letter says that Gannon, a 4,700-student Roman Catholic institution in downtown Erie, has a legal and moral obligation to honor what Jefferson claims was a contract. Mizner refers to the catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, which states, "Promises must be kept and contracts strictly observed to the extent that the commitments made in them are morally just," according to the letter.
In an interview, Mizner again cited the catechism, which lays out the teachings of the Catholic Church.
"Gannon University's decision to breach its contract with Coach Jefferson is another unfortunate example of hypocrisy by the church: Teaching one thing and doing another," Mizner said.
"It is disappointing when Goliath breaches a contract with David," Mizner also said. "It is a bigger disappointment when Goliath is a Catholic diocesan institution and David is one of its loyal employees."
Jefferson claims he learned of firing from HR representative
In his four seasons at Gannon, Jefferson went 41-53 with two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament appearances in the three years the tournament was held. Gannon's 3-23 record in 2022-23 included 3-19 in PSAC play. The Golden Knights finished eighth in the league.
Jefferson's 41 wins ranks 12th in the history of the Gannon men's basketball program. He was the 19th head coach in its history.
Gannon on April 30, 2019, hired Jefferson, a former assistant with men's basketball programs at Division I Old Dominion University. He succeeded longtime coach John Reilly, the winningest men's basketball coach in Gannon history, with a 242-162 records and five appearances in NCAA tournaments over 14 years. Reilly was fired after the Golden Knights went 11-18 overall and 9-12 in the PSAC in 2018-19.
Jefferson's first appointment at Gannon was for three years and went through June 30, 2022, according to the suit. It states that Jefferson on June 24, 2022, signed a four-year extension through March 31, 2026.
Gannon announced on March 24 that Jefferson would not return as the coach.
"We are grateful for the service Coach Jefferson has given to our men’s basketball program, University, and community," Gannon's athletic director, Lisa Goddard McGuirk, said in a statement on March 24. "We wish him the best in his future endeavors."
Kelvin Jefferson, far left, the men’s basketball coach at Gannon University for four years, is suing the university over his dismissal in March. Original source & rights: GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS FILE
Jefferson learned of his firing on March 24, "when a member of the Gannon University human resources department advised Mr. Jefferson that he was being terminated," the suit claims. He did not meet with the athletic director or university president, according the suit.
"When Mr. Jefferson asked why he was being terminated, he was advised by the human resources employee that the sole reason for his termination was the men's basketball team's poor record during the 2022-23 season," according to the suit.
It also claims: "During the 2022-23 season, the Gannon's men's basketball team struggled on the court due to a variety of factors, including a number of injuries. Nonetheless, nothing in either the original terms of Mr. Jefferson's appointment, or in his four-year extension, required the men's basketball team to achieve a certain win/loss, or meet any other of on-court success, for Mr. Jefferson to remain employed."
Jefferson's lawyer downplays importance of win-loss record
Jefferson, according to the suit, accepted the four-year extension "with the understanding that he would remain employed at Gannon for the four years remaining on his appointment, so long as he competently exercised his responsibilities as a head coach, as he had done for the three prior years at Gannon University, and did not engage in any unacceptable behavior."
In his letter to Taylor, the Gannon president, Mizner, Jefferson's lawyer, claimed a win-loss record — typically the core benchmark for evaluating a coach's performance — was never meant to be a criterion for gauging Jefferson's future at Gannon.
"A win-loss record was never agreed upon as a material term of the Contract, nor ever discussed with Mr. Jefferson as any area of concerns by any Gannon administrator," according to the letter.
But Mizner's letter also focuses on what he claims is Gannon's refusal to honor what Jefferson considers to be a contract. "While Gannon certainly has a right to terminate him as the basketball coach," according to the letter, "it is difficult to understand the legal, moral or ethical basis to ask Mr. Jefferson to forgo his right to payment of all the amounts, as they become due under an appointment which still has a term of 39 months."
Gannon, Jefferson were optimistic at hiring
When Gannon hired Jefferson in 2019, he was 47 and had more than two decades of coaching experience, including the previous three seasons at Old Dominion, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia.
Jefferson, a native of Norwalk, Connecticut, was also the coach of an elite high school team in Connecticut for eight years after spending nine years as an assistant coach at four Division I schools: Colgate, Stony Brook, American and Vermont.
"We are very excited to welcome Kelvin Jefferson to Gannon," McGuirk, Gannon's athletic director, said in announcing Jefferson's hiring. "We had a tremendous pool of very talented candidates, and Kelvin's depth of experience and his approach and commitment to what we value at Gannon really exemplifies everything that we were looking for in our next head coach."
Jefferson said he aimed to bring an offensive mindset to Gannon's program. Reilly, his predecessor, was known for preaching defense. Jefferson said he hoped to start a new era for men's basketball at the university.
"I have fallen in love with Erie and have yet to meet anyone who wasn't friendly," he said in September 2019, at the start of his first season at Gannon. "We want to bring this program back to the old days. This has all the makings of one of the best programs in the country."
Original article by: Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.