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KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / 2014
Former UH men's basketball coach Gib Arnold at his home last year.
• Arnold said to be rounding up allies
The University of Hawaii filed a suit in Circuit Court this afternoon against its former men’s basketball coach, Gib Arnold, seeking damages in claims of misuse of travel funds and failure to comply with NCAA bylaws.
The suit also asks that the liquidated damages provision in Arnold’s employment contract, which is currently an issue in grievance proceedings, be declared unenforceable.
UH alleges that Arnold, while head coach, failed to use a travel advance to pay for $2,123 in hotel expenses during a 2012 trip to Las Vegas. The suit says the hotel has claimed it did not receive payment and has referred the claim to a collection agency.
According to the suit, UH has twice asked Arnold for proof of payment but has not received a response.
The suit was filed by UH’s outside counsel, William McCorriston. In it UH seeks a jury trial.
UH dismissed Arnold Oct. 28 under "without cause" provisions of his 2011 employment agreement amid an eight-month investigation by the NCAA.
Three months later the NCAA issued a Notice of Allegations claiming seven violations of its rules by the UH men’s basketball program. The alleged violations were classified as Level I and Level II by the NCAA Enforcement Division, the most severe of four categories. Arnold was cited in all seven.
UH and Arnold are scheduled to appear before the NCAA’s Infractions Committee July 16-17 in Indianapolis.
Following the NCAA’s Notice of Allegation in January, Arnold filed a grievance against the school seeking $1.4 million he claimed was owned him under terms of the contract. The parties were unable to reach a settlement in mediation and it is due to go to arbitration.
Arnold took over as UH head coach for the 2010-2011 season after being an assistant at USC. He was 72-55 in four seasons before UH declared it would vacate 36 victories that it deemed two ineligible players participated in, leaving him at 36-55.
http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2015/06/10/uh-files-lawsuit-against-former-mens-head-basketball-coach/
