Kevin Ollie Looking to File Discrimination Charges Against UConn

Former UConn men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie is looking to file a federal discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. According to Courthouse News, Ollie’s attorneys filed a special request to make this complaint, even though it may allow UConn to end the arbitration process currently under way.

As of right now, Ollie is slated to have an arbitration hearing on his contractual grievance claim that UConn did not have “just cause” in firing him and that he is entitled to the roughly $10 million owed to him on his contract. He is represented by the American Association of University Professors in this arbitration, which will most likely be conducted by a retired judge or attorney, according to a lawyer who spoke with Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant.

The allegation claims that Ollie experienced discrimination in the way he was treated compared to other coaches, including his predecessor Jim Calhoun, who was found to have committed multiple recruiting violations and kept his job.

Dave Borges of The New Haven Register is reporting that Ollie’s camp has been trying to file this claim for months. The hangup is that filing a federal claim would allow UConn to back out of the ongoing arbitration process, which Ollie and his legal team would like to preserve.

This is the latest in the ugly ongoing public break-up between Ollie and UConn. Most recently, details surfaced of the NCAA violations which UConn cites as the reasons for Ollie’s dismissal. Ollie has 90 days following the notice of allegations to respond, in a process with the NCAA which will be separate but concurrent to the arbitration with UConn.

The University of Connecticut did not have any comment regarding the status or timing of the arbitration process with Ollie.