College Basketball Star Wayne Arnold (Concordia) Sues for Libel, Discrimination, Etc.

It all started with a stolen PlayStation 5.

From the Complaint in Arnold v. Concordia Int'l Univ., filed Monday:

15. WAYNE is informed and believes that sometime between 11:00 pm and midnight on February 12, 2022, KNUCKLES and/or SANDERS noticed that a PlayStation 5 ("PS5") was missing from their room.

16. WAYNE is informed and believes that based on racial animus, racial discrimination, racial profiling and racial bias, KNUCKLES concluded that "it must have been WAYNE" who stole the PS5.

17. WAYNE shares a dorm room with his roommate and KNUCKLES and SANDERS share a room adjacent to WAYNE's room….

19. WAYNE is informed and believes that KNUCKLES provided a statement to school authorities that "WAYNE was the last person he'd seen leaving the SUITE of ROOMS before he noticed the PS5 was missing."

20. WAYNE is informed and believes that no other evidence exists connecting him to the claim that he stole the PS5.

21. A few days later, on or about February 17, 2022, WAYNE was expelled from the basketball team where he was a star player after a brief "Star Chamber" type interview WAYNE had with AMMANN and the basketball coaching staff.

22. WAYNE received no proper notice of the charges against him by the basketball coaching staff and received no fair process in violation of his due process rights.

23. In addition, WAYNE was asked about a number of other completely uncorroborated allegations of theft from other students and/or other members of the basketball team.

24. WAYNE had no notice of these other allegations.

25. WAYNE never had a chance to review the details of the statements made against him and was not permitted to proffer evidence or statements to prove his innocence of the charge that he stole the PS5.

26. WAYNE is informed and believes that the other uncorroborated allegations against WAYNE were, like the allegations of KNUCKLES and SANDERS, the product of conjecture and/or speculation based on racial animus, racial discrimination, racial profiling and racial bias.

27. In short, WAYNE was expelled from the basketball team without any due process based on a complete lack of credible evidence, where the charges or allegations were the product of conjecture and/or speculation and based on racial animus, racial discrimination, racial profiling and racial bias.

Arnold claims race discrimination, violation of due process, defamation, infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and breach of contract.

Comments

[NatsGuy]

Noticeably absent from this pleading is any allegation to the effect of "WAYNE did not steal the PS5 and has absolutely no idea who did."

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

IANAL. Are such allegations normal in such pleadings?

[Eugene Volokh]

Well, paragraph 40 alleges that "DEFENDANTS published a false and unprivileged writing which exposed WAYNE to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy, or which caused WAYNE to be shunned or avoided, or which had a tendency to injure him in his occupation."

On the other hand, paragraph 41, which discusses oral statements says only, "DEFENDANTS spoke words, made transitory gestures and/or engaged in any other non-written form of communication which exposed WAYNE to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy, or which caused WAYNE to be shunned or avoided, or which had a tendency to injure him in his occupation," with no assertion that the words and gestures were false.

[Bob from Ohio]

His stats page does not say "star" player. 6 pts. per game. He's on his second college.

I admit to being disappointed that "KNUCKLES" is a last name and not a nick name.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

I counseled a college player who averaged fewer than 10 points per game in college, played nearly a decade in the NBA, and is reported to have earned more than $13 million playing basketball.

A player from the same program, five years older, averaged 6.4 points per game in college and reportedly earned $44.6 million during 13 years in the NBA.

[Eugene Volokh]

Bob from Ohio: You may be right, and perhaps I was sucked in by the hype -- but I was working off items such as this one, which said that he had been named D2CIDA National Player of the Week (in Division II, to be sure) just three weeks ago. Is that just puff? Or is it that Division II players basically aren't stars unless they are truly extraordinary?

[darkknight9]

Is there a right to due process for being on (or removed from) a college sports team? Can't they cut you at will? Do they even need an excuse to cut you?

[John F. Carr]

It's a private school so I would say there is no right to due process. Only contract.

I remember when Tonya Harding's lawyer made a "contractual due process" claim and all the finest legal minds of the online world mocked it.

[tkamenick]

TBH, I don't find these "here's a random libel suit with no particularly interesting legal facets, just a high profile plaintiff/defendant" posts very interesting.