Question for lawyers

I'll boil this down as simple as possible. As long as the Board is acting with full disclosure, without conflict of interest, and in good faith, then there is no breach of fiduciary duty. Keeping Golden could be an awful decision for the University, like many of us believe it to be, yet the decision would still be completely legal as long as those elements hold true. Being incompetent and making bad decisions (from our perspective) is not illegal.

Like I said there are other ways to have a breach in the fiduciary duty.

For example waste or mismanagement. A history of "incompetence" and "making bad decisions" are how you demonstrate waste and mismanagement. It is difficult to claim you maintained a duty and acted in the best interest of the university when the record shows irrational decision making.

If all you want to do is bring attention to the issue, then go right ahead and attempt to file something somewhere. Just know that I think you'll get made fun of when you try to do it because it truly is that stupid. Actually, some lawyer will take your case to make a few bucks, but nothing will happen and nobody will care. Feel free to give it a shot and prove me wrong.

Made fun of? Seriously. What are we 6 years old? Our program is an utter joke and you're advising me that I may be "made fun of?" Thanks for the tip, my self-esteem from kindergarten can't thank you enough.
 
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That's a meaningless question. It's not up to me to judge how this benefits the university, but I will for the sake of argument.

First, they're saving the cost of the buyout.
Second, it would be bad for the university's image to fire the guy who they hired without telling that they were about to throw him into a fire as soon as the fire went out.
Third, maybe they think he's a good representative for the university as a whole.
Fourth, maybe they think he'll make changes and turn the football program around.
Fifth, maybe they don't have a replacement coach that they want.

But again, it's not my call. Realistically, I know nothing about the program and couldn't reasonably justify the actions of people with whom I have no connection whatsoever. People on here significantly overestimate how much they think they know. We know nothing about what happens behind the scenes.

Oh, and that's not to mention that the Board seems to agree with the university (otherwise, I assume they would override the university's decision to keep him). And that's also not to mention that maybe some people on the Board actually do want him gone but are giving the university leeway similar to how a Board lets a CEO run their own company even after a bad year.

With all that said, it's ridiculous to think that deciding to keep a coach, without the appearance of any conflict of interest, could possibly result in a breach of fiduciary duty based on the prior performance of the coach.

Being unable to predict the future is not breaching a fiduciary responsibility. That applies for keeping Golden now and that applies for hiring Golden four years ago even though he turned out to be a bad hire. There's no guarantee that the next hire is better than Golden. Just look at how much Randy Shannon sucked.

It is what it is. Stop watching the games and burn your jerseys if you want. I'm done with this thread.

Oh, one last thing. Since you guys want to bring legal action, how about instead of me explaining that the Board is innocent, you go right ahead and prove that the Board is guilty of breaching their fiduciary duty to the university. You know, like how it actually works in real life? I'll wait.

You’re done with this thread, a classic line. Here we go…deep breath (I wrote this on the subway, sorry if there are typos).

PART 1


I honestly have no idea if this COA would survive a motion to dismiss. The case has merit (see the evidence) and would bring great attention to the issue. The point isn’t to win the case, the point is to bring attention to the issue in a different format. They think our fans are disgusting because we fly banners and tweet, how about we present the issue in a different forum (the courtroom). The point we’re trying to achieve is to bring attention to the issue so that a necessary action can be taken. I already posted a law review article on the topic, learn more about how this works there.

As an Alumni, I’m beyond disgusted with our Board and Shalala. It isn’t just athletics, it is the hospital and mismanagement (but this is not for today).

The BOT doesn’t have to know how to predict the future to justify a decision. It is a breach at the time of the decision. There is no proof or evidence to support a position for keeping Al Golden as a coach. This is when the breach occurs simply by retaining him. [The breach of duty occurs] Because it is incredibly risky and is in no way in the best interest of the university to keep him. It is not only risky, it is simply waste and mismanagement of our University’s assets. You don’t retain a failed coach simply because you don’t know who should be the next one. Also, you don’t retain a failed coach simply because the next one may not work. When RS was fired, we had no clue who was next. Our AD and BOT doesn’t prepare properly for these decisions (further breach). You would think they would maintain a list of contacts, interest and names, but they don’t. Instead they waste more money with a Chuck Neinas coaching search. The cycle keeps repeating itself, our BOT and ADMIN lack any and all accountability or standards, they just believe in waste.


Part 2

Now let’s talk some reasons for keeping him that you brought up.

"Saving Money on the Buyout"

As for the buyout and saving money, you can't prove we're saving money by retaining him. Especially because you don't know the terms....but by retaining Al Golden in 2015 here is what will happen. A ton of tickets and donations will not be renewed because people are sick of the product. When less season tickets and single tickets are not renewed/sold, those people tend not to go to as many games (if any). When people don't go to games they can't buy concessions and parking. In addition, less merchandise is sold. My guess is all this will negate the tremendous savings that the BOT may be claiming.

Please note that this extension was given to him illogically and irrationally by the BOT who now refuse to send him packing. Remember our BOT has no forward thinking, they play it stupid and they play it wrong...all the time (Coker, RS, Haith and now Golden). This is not about saving money, we're going to get hurt financially this season due to their apathy and lack of accountability. Watch what happens this season. If we fired him next season, I’m sure there will be some buyout at that time as well. It may be less but there will be some buyout. This is why saving money doesn’t work as a reason.

If you think this is about PURELY saving money because the university is poor, this would be wrong. This is a common myth, see the thread below. Remember we're making an additional ton of money through our Adidas Contract and ACC contract now. It's not poor UM.

https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/82257-The-Money-Myth?highlight=the+money+myth

Everything after saving money

Golden and his lack of knowledge of the cloud. I don't care if he had knowledge of the cloud. We all have knowledge that he is a terrible coach. We all have knowledge that he can't achieve success at Miami. We all have knowledge that our student athletes deserve better. The sample size is incredibly large, the data supporting this argument (he blows) is overwhelming. If the alumni and fan base have the evidence, the BOT should as well.

The goodwill he may of earned (lack of knowledge from the cloud) was given to him by the unnecessary extension. If Golden didn't want to be here (due to the cloud) he could have left and not signed an extension. Once he signed, the cloud argument became dead except to the slurpers. The lack of knowledge argument was withdrawn. In addition, once ALbort decided to abandon us and go MIA after the bowl game (UL), he was deep in the red in the goodwill department. He wanted out and couldn't get out. He went MIA when it mattered most in recruiting.

One last thing on the “cloud”, how come Coach L can win and have success under the cloud but ALbort can’t? How come USC and PSU can achieve more with stricter sanctions? Perhaps our sanctions are not an intense as we’re led to believe. Perhaps the “cloud” was an awesome excuse. Perhaps it isn’t a big factor and Al is a terrible coach.

Our University has a terrible image simply because they allow him to remain the coach. It shows our BOT, Admin and DS are apathetic to the athletic department. It shows they're content with a losing product. It shows the love to waste our resources. How does this play to recruits? Why even ask, ALbort is our coach. He is loser.

A good Representative to the university as a whole? Seriously?

He is liar, he is used car-saleman, he lacks any and all accountability. He is a loser. He represents us terribly. I'm not going to go on a long diatribe to attack this point, the fact that you suggest (the BOT) he may be a good representative is amazing. Here are three articles destroying him. Remember it was the BOT, DS and the ADMIN that gave him the extension.

http://mancave.cbslocal.com/2015/01/08/in-defense-of-fandom-trust-and-betrayal/
http://mancave.cbslocal.com/2015/01/06/heres-al-goldens-alleged-letter-to-his-team-on-new-years/
http://mancave.cbslocal.com/2014/12...ajority-of-team-would-transfer-if-no-penalty/

Changes? What changes?

Al Golden has regressed since coaching at UM. He started 6-6 and now we're 6-7. He had his most talented team and lost 7 games. Yes 7 games. Yes 7 games. He is a proven loser who loves to keep the status quo. He loves to support Coach D. It doesn't matter anyway (if he makes changes) because Al Golden is a loser and he will never be the coach UM needs and deserves. Who coached Special Teams? Who is the head coach? Al Golden, is he going to change himself?

In addition, it is the BOT who gave him the extension. They have no credibility in proving they know what is best for the program, why are they able to evaluate Golden with a new staff? Their track record in athletics is pretty bad (Coker Extension, RS Hiring, RS Extension, Haith Extension and Golden’s Extension)…they’ve proven time after time to act against the best interest of the university and make irrational decisions. They don’t have the track record to know Al Golden (with an unknown new staff) is better for the university. They certainly haven’t earned any trust in their decision making.

Replacement Coach?

Just because you don’t have a replacement doesn’t justify keeping the status quo especially when the evidence is overwhelming and against the best interest of the program. The failure to have a list of candidates just proves that our BOT has no clue what they’re doing. Their track record of incompetence is difficult to beat.

RS was a terrible hiring. There is a common rule in selecting a coach. You don’t promote from a failed regime. Coker’s regime was a failure so the solution is to promote someone from that regime? The decision that is in the best interest of the university is to promote someone with zero HC experience? That makes no sense. All these failed decisions just reinforce that the BOT is terrible at making decisions. This is why they have no credibility, this is why they continue to fail. They see evidence against their decision, but ignore it. They’re either retarded (which is not excuse) or illogical (which is not excuse).

This would bring attention to the issue. That is all. We’re going to fight because we want change. I’m not donating or buying anything, but that isn’t enough. We want to bring attention to the issue and we will continue to do so till he is gone and the other issues are fixed. Sorry if you don’t like it.

Holy crap, that's a long subway ride...
 
Just call a lawyer and tell them you want to file a suit against the Miami University Board of Trustees for a breach of fiduciary duties and see what they tell you.

I would be filing against the wrong school.

Thanks for the tip.

Consig, its simple. You don't want to listen to the lawyers on this board who are saying its at best a silly idea and at worst, dumb. Thats cool. You don't have to. Its your time and money.

Log off this message board and call one of the many reputable firms in South Florida and tell them you want to file a breach of fiduciary duty suit against the Board of Trustees for the hiring and retention of Al Golden as the coach of the football program.

Come back here and let us know what they tell you.
 
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There would be no assessment of attorneys' fees for "frivolous litigation." If the complaint is truly frivolous, you just withdraw under 57.105 (Google it). By that time, however, the filing would have already accomplished the goal.
The file "just for the sake of filing" or "to bring attention to the issue, even if it's dismissed" crowd ought to consider the potential for assessment of attorney's fees/court costs for frivolous litigation.

Thanks for the warning. Next time just call people out.

I have a better idea, let's do nothing and hope for the best. "Man I hope Al turns it around."

Fair enough. I saw your earlier post about the 57.105 letter, and I'm not familiar with Florida law and procedure. But in other jurisdictions there are multiple potential avenues for assessment of fees/costs for suits that get tossed for lack of merit, and, depending on various circumstances, you wouldn't necessarily be able to avoid it by withdrawing the suit. Hence my simple comment that the issue merits consideration for anyone thinking of pursing this idea (which, for some reason, Consig took personally and warranted him tossing me a better idea).
 
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I would say they are upholding their fiduciary duty in that it cant afford to pay off his ridiculous contract.

Of course, they signed off on it in the first place so...
 
I'll boil this down as simple as possible. As long as the Board is acting with full disclosure, without conflict of interest, and in good faith, then there is no breach of fiduciary duty. Keeping Golden could be an awful decision for the University, like many of us believe it to be, yet the decision would still be completely legal as long as those elements hold true. Being incompetent and making bad decisions (from our perspective) is not illegal.

Like I said there are other ways to have a breach in the fiduciary duty.

For example waste or mismanagement. A history of "incompetence" and "making bad decisions" are how you demonstrate waste and mismanagement. It is difficult to claim you maintained a duty and acted in the best interest of the university when the record shows irrational decision making.

If all you want to do is bring attention to the issue, then go right ahead and attempt to file something somewhere. Just know that I think you'll get made fun of when you try to do it because it truly is that stupid. Actually, some lawyer will take your case to make a few bucks, but nothing will happen and nobody will care. Feel free to give it a shot and prove me wrong.

Made fun of? Seriously. What are we 6 years old? Our program is an utter joke and you're advising me that I may be "made fun of?" Thanks for the tip, my self-esteem from kindergarten can't thank you enough.

It's an idiom -- being made fun of -- being laughed out of the room. Whatever.

So what's your point? You gonna sue the Board or what?
 
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