Horns247 Board

Suing for what? She resigned. She wasn't fired.

Major was punished formally. How is that condoning?

The AD should have known this was going to be public at some point in time...it would have been much better for Major, especially, that this had been aired publicly back in 2009...it would have been dealt with and he could work on his marriage and move forward...now, it's almost like he and his wife have to deal with the incident twice...plus, his career, which was on a big upswing, is now in doubt.

I don't see any way that this was going to be kept hidden forever, even if it's really none of mine or anyone else's business...sure wish this would have been handled in total 4 years ago.

The reason it's a story is because UT just forced their women's track coach to resign after learning she had a relationship with one of her track athletes.

To some people this will look harsh when compared to a football coach and former football star at the school having sex with a student and basically only having an 11 month period with no raises and having to talk to a counselor as punishment.

Now to me it all comes down to the details. Was it just a female student who was there for the Fiesta Bowl or was it a student working or involved in the football dept? How was the act found out? Did Major go to Dodds/Mack within a few days or was it weeks and possibly only revealed after it was going to be disclosed?

To me, if Major went to Dodds/Mack with the info then the university won't fire him now. He disclosed and received "punishment", no matter how light, from his supervisors so firing him 4 years after would cause another justified lawsuit on their hands. If Mack went to Dodds as it appears was the case then Mack is probably not going to be ushered out either. The question comes at Dodds/Powers level and exactly what was their responsibility for disclosure and discipline and did they follow that policy? If so then were there any policy obligations that were not met? And if there is then who is responsible for that happening?

In light of the issue with Kearny's situation it needs to be looked at to make sure there wasn't preferential treatment given to the more valuable (in the eyes of the AD and well, everyone) employee. Hopefully the differences between Major and Kearny's situations are enough to reasonably conclude the punishments were adequate in both cases.

It really doesn't matter much in a discrimination suit. She can claim she quit because Of disparate treatment in similar circumstances under protest. In Oklahoma, the bar is pretty high for proof of disparate treatment/discrimination. The employees must be similarly situated (same position, even same supervisor) and commit essentially identical offenses to gain traction for disparate treatment. I don't know the Texas law. There isn't a lot of similarity in the published reports. A woman's head track coach having an affair with an athlete under her control and likely disciplined by the women's AD has no contact with anything in the Applewhite situation other than both made contact with genitals of females they should not have.

It would certainly muddy the water and embarrass the BOR, but it wouldn't gain a lot of ground in a court case. The fact they did this at the worst possible time to inflict damage to the university would piss me off enough to withdraw any settlement offer on the table and spend it in legal fees in a trial that the other side does not want to have anyway. How much sympathy is the jury going to have for her? None. Insurance companies get involved and force you into settlements to save money on legal fees and it has perverted our system, but you can still force cases through. It probably will not happen here, but it should.

Just to be clear, I don't think for a moment that it was a running back that was involved but just throwing all possibilities on the table of who he supervises. As my wife just told me, his marriage wouldn't have survived that type of issue. Who would he actually supervise that is female? He wouldn't be over any of the people you reference. I doubt that the university would give him an admin asst but that would be the only person who would directly report to him. These situations appear to be night & day.

Someone in press obviously got wind of this and started asking question. Would be interested who got the info and how. Also interesting it is coming out right before signing date. To me it is sad how the press loves to tear people down and ruin their lives. They are like attacking sharks this day and time. Major made a bad decision. He was punished for it probably more than we will ever know. I do not feel like what Major or anyone else is doing in their personal lives is any our business as long as they are not breaking laws . I just hope this does not destroy his career and his marriage. It will hurt both for sure. With our board of regents, some of them appointed by Gov. Good Hair, do not feel real good about the decision they might make. The amazing thing about Major is even our rivals seemed to like him. He will always be one of my favorite Longhorns. Sure hope he does not get destroyed by this. Every body makes mistakes.

And they may very well be. I'm just referencing the fact that Kearney's lawyers will do all they can to equate them in a court of law for her benefit--which if accurate is exactly what I would want my lawyer to do had I been her.

And BTW, I actually meant to reply to Lawhorn's post wherein he references "student-athlete." Didn't mean to take at face value your use of RB. I'm sure this didn't involve Fozzy or Tre Newton FTR.

Totally agree with this.

I'm of the opinion that Major is safe based on several things. These were all in the original thread from last night.

This was a one time event vs Kearney's established relationship.

There was no cover up. It was dealt with almost immediately. Fiesta Bowl was January 5th and the letter from Dodds to Major was exactly a month later, February, 5th

It did not involve a football staff member or an athlete that rolled up to him.

The athletic dept and I assume the legal dept allowed him to release a statement stating, "I've learned and grown from this and look forward to my work at Texas." Based on what is being reported, she was none of the above. A morals clause in his contract would change this, but even then, he had already been disciplined for it.

While others are talking about the perception of the handling of the Kearney situation in comparison to the Applewhite situation, I'm not sure they can be compared. Too many difference in the cases. And even if Kearney's attorney does use it as leverage, I think the outline above gives Major some legal leverage as well.

Just my

then be glad I wouldn't be on the jury because you wouldn't convince me you were wronged.

Kearney was pushed out the door and forced to resign. I imagine that they approached her and showed her the moral clause in all their contracts so she did not fight it. I am sure after she visited a lawyer and mentioned other transgression that did not result in firing and major name came up the attorney wanted to use it as leverage and sent the opens records request to get that information. Prob why they released it now because the attorney was going to release it anyways, depending on the time frame of when they got the request the prob did not have the luxury to wait until after signing day. I would hope that the coaches called our recruits and help explain the situation.

I do not think major will get fired. However, if dodds did not make it known to tthe board he is gone, especially with other situations somewhat similar cane up.

Doesn't Dodds work at the discretion of the President and report to him. Why would he make it known to the BOR. Seems like thats the Presidents job.