For Immediate Release: February 12, 1999
For More Information Contact: Theresa Henige, TLPJ, 202-797-8600
Complaint
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) sued Macalester College
yesterday for the retaliatory firing of Joel Kaden, who had been
the head coach of the women's softball team and the head athletic
trainer. The complaint, filed in Minnesota state court in Ramsey
County, charges that Kaden was fired because he had reported gender
inequities in Macalester's intercollegiate athletic program and
illegal gambling activities within the college's athletic department.
Kaden was an extremely successful coach who transformed the women's softball team into a winning program. But on January 20, 1998 – after Kaden had reported the gender equity violations and illegal gambling activities – Macalester College President Michael McPherson met with and fired Kaden. At the meeting, President McPherson offered Kaden $15,000 if he would sign a Separation Agreement requiring him to (a) release his claims against the school for retaliation and wrongful discharge and (b) refrain from disclosing to government officials, the media, and the public any information about the Separation Agreement, his firing, and his belief that the college had engaged in "wrongful, unlawful, discriminatory or tortious conduct." Kaden refused to sign the agreement.
"To us, the evidence leaves no question that Macalester College's firing of Joel Kaden was retaliatory and therefore illegal," said Thomas J. Conlin of Minneapolis' Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, L.L.P., who is serving as TLPJ's lead counsel in the case. "Joel Kaden was a top-notch coach who did the right thing and tried to ensure that Macalester complied with the law. He should have been praised and rewarded, not fired."
Kaden was hired by Macalester as its head women's softball coach in August 1991. Before Kaden took over, the team had a losing tradition, averaging less than 10 wins per season. In the final three years of Kaden's coaching, the team posted three winning seasons in a row, averaging 23 wins per season.
In addition to serving as the women's softball coach, Kaden was also appointed the head athletic trainer and a position coach on Macalester's football team. From 1991 to 1995, Kaden received highly favorable performance reviews, along with commensurate salary increases. His problems at Macalester began only after he raised gender equity concerns with the college's athletic director in 1995 – complaining that the men's baseball team received better treatment than the women's softball team and that male athletes received better locker room space than female athletes.
Kaden raised these concerns with Macalester's then-Athletic Director Ken Andrews, who advised Kaden to drop the issue. When Kaden refused, the college began to engage in a series of retaliatory acts that included demoting him from the head athletic trainer position and ultimately firing him.
Macalester's retaliation against Kaden was not limited to his efforts to ensure that the school treated its female and male athletes equally. Macalester also retaliated against Kaden for exposing inaccuracies in the college's official account of a gambling incident that had been reported to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In the fall of 1997, Macalester asked Kaden to participate in an investigation of allegations that coaches in its athletic department had violated the NCAA's prohibition against gambling. Kaden was not personally involved in these betting incidents, but had witnessed them first-hand. He provided an account that was more damaging to Macalester than its own official report. Shortly after Kaden met with Macalester's President to express his frustration over Macalester's inaccurate account of the gambling incident, Kaden was fired.
"Both state and federal law prohibit employers from retaliating against employees for reporting and urging correction of potentially illegal activities," said TLPJ Staff Attorney Adele P. Kimmel, co-counsel in the case. "Mr. Kaden had a right to complain about what he believed was illegal sex discrimination in Macalester's athletic program and illegal gambling within the school's athletic department. Macalester College broke the law when it fired Kaden for exercising his protected rights."
Kaden v. Macalester College charges the school with violating both state and federal law. The complaint alleges that Macalester's retaliation against Kaden for complaining about gender inequities in the school's athletic program violates Minnesota's Human Rights Act and Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972. The complaint also charges Macalester with breaching Kaden's employment contract and violating Minnesota's Whistleblower Act by firing Kaden in retaliation for reporting illegal gambling.
In addition to Conlin and Kimmel, TLPJ's legal team in this case includes Jerry A. Burg of Minneapolis' Johnson, Gulling, Heltzer & Burg, P.L.C., and Martha K. Wivell and J. Sebastian Stewart of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, L.L.P.
The Separation Agreement that Macalester College attempted to get Kaden to sign is available by fax.
