Costly firing of UH coach is defended

University of Hawaii-Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman told lawmakers Tuesday he stands by his decision to fire men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold without cause a year ago, a decision that resulted in a settlement expected to ultimately cost the university and taxpayers more than $1 million.

State Rep. Isaac Choy, chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, convened what was dubbed an informational briefing Tuesday with university officials to hear about the events leading up to Arnold’s firing and to find out what UH is doing to prevent a repeat situation.

Arnold, who was fired a year ago today amid an NCAA investigation into alleged violations, is the latest in a series of costly buyouts and settlements within the athletic department. The university’s Board of Regents earlier this month approved a $700,000 settlement for Arnold that, in addition to bonuses and legal costs, is expected to exceed $1.1 million.

Under questioning by legislators, Bley-Vroman defended the firing and said had he known the potential price tag at the time, he still would have chosen to fire Arnold without cause instead of with cause or letting him finish the final eight months of his $344,000-a-year contract.

“I cannot say I would have made a different decision if I had known differently, because of the large and unknown costs associated with making a different decision,” the chancellor said. “I consulted many people on that matter, and no one gave me a reason to believe, at the time, that there was an interpretation of the contract that would lead to an amount of $1.4 whatever.”

Arnold had been seeking $1.4 million from the university under a firing “without cause” clause in his 2011 contract. That section of Arnold’s contract stated, “This Agreement may be terminated without cause upon ninety (90) days written notice to Coach. In such event, the University will pay as liquidated damages, a lump sum amount equal to the total amount of compensation earned under the terms of this Agreement as of the date of termination (incentives and extensions not achieved are not included in liquidated damages).”

The state Capitol briefing spanned three hours and included questioning of six UH “presenters.” At least 17 university officials attended. Lawmakers pressed officials about the origin of the clause and whether existing contracts include similar language.

UH President David Lassner said none of the employees responsible for approving Arnold’s 2011 contract — the Manoa chancellor, athletic director and system vice president for legal affairs — is still in those capacities at UH.

“I think it is safe to say that the language included in that contact was not what any one of us now in those roles would agree to today,” he said.

Several lawmakers expressed frustration with a perceived lack of accountability, because no one seems to lose their jobs for errors that end up costing money, unlike in the private sector. But Lassner declined to discuss what he called personnel matters, adding that “public flogging” isn’t his style.

Honolulu attorney James Bickerton, who represented Arnold, said in an interview, “It is crystal clear that no one read the contract before the decision to terminate was made. It’s water over the dam now, but I hope that whatever reforms are made will address the fact that no one read the contract and that someone will be held accountable for not reading the contract.”

Carrie Okinaga, Lassner’s vice president for legal counsel, said UH is revamping its controls over contracts to prevent similar disputes. She said UH is working on standardizing language for contracts for head coaches, who are represented by the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

Lassner said the university might turn to the Legislature for help to remove union representation for head coaches, a practice that dates from the 1970s, when most coaches held regular jobs at UH and coached on the side.

Choy (D, Manoa-Punahou-Moiliili), the committee chairman, said after the hearing it’s clear the university has a lot to work on.

“The university is so desegregated, a lot of people — a lot of people — can obligate the university and commit the university,” he said. “It’s a work in progress, so I think what I did is expose the fact that they better get on the stick on coming up with a system of quality control and procedures. The session is coming up, the same cast of characters will be standing right here, so I’m going to be asking, ‘Did you fix this? Did you fix that?’”

He said he was encouraged to hear that Okinaga has contacted the state attorney general’s office for possible help with legal issues.

When UH sought autonomy — voters gave the regents the power of self-governance in 2000 — having its own general counsel was something the university insisted it needed, Choy recalled.

“Now we’re saying the issues that are coming up are so huge, you need so much expertise,” Choy said, citing as examples land development, litigation and technology transfer.