VCU Backs Discriminatory Firing of Gay Coach

In what is beginning to feel like deja vue of the Moore v. Virginia Museum of Natural History case from a few years back where Michael Moore was fired for being gay, Virginia Commonwealth University ("VCU") is backing the firing of women’s volleyball coach James Finley (pictured above), claiming that the firing was not discriminatory. Both the Virginian Pilot and the Richmond Times Dispatch are carrying coverage of VCU's disturbing statement.  Candidly, I have seen first hand in the Moore case how Virginia agencies conduct their internal reviews of anti-gay actions by bigoted personnel and the contortions and gyrations that are engaged in to avoid a finding of discrimination are unbelievable.  Inconvenient and contradictory facts are ignored and, in my opinion, obvious lies are swept under the rug.  Anything and everything will be done to avoid a confirmation of anti-gay bigotry.  The situation is so bad that these internal reviews are akin to the Catholic Church hierarchy denying that a case of sexual abuse by priests exists absent a video tape of a child being raped by a priest on the church altar. Here are highlights from the Times Dispatch piece:

Virginia Commonwealth University has completed an internal investigation into the firing of women’s volleyball coach James Finley and determined that the action was founded.

“The Office of Institutional Equity’s exhaustive investigation confirmed that the employment decision was made in accordance with VCU policies and not as the result of any discriminatory action by our athletic director,” VCU President Michael Rao said in a statement emailed to university employees Thursday and then posted on the school’s web site.

Finley was fired in November after completing a 25-6 season. He claimed he was fired because he is openly gay, but VCU Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin denied that.

The internal investigation ends VCU’s look into the matter, and the school has already begun a search for a new coach.

I suspect that the only thing "exhaustive" about the investigation is the effort that went into concocting a story to back up VCU's athletic director's action.   Where does this leave Finley?  Under Virginia law, there are few options.  He can file a complaint under the state employee grievance procedure but truth be told, the Department of Human Resource Management from what I saw in the Moore case, DHRM will go to even greater lengths to avoid finding against a state agency even though it claims "does not advocate for employees or management, but, rather, provides impartial services to assist in the resolution of workplace disputes."  In my opinion, that statement is about as true as much of what came out of the old Soviet Politburo. 

Should Finley consider a state court lawsuit, there is nothing in Virginia statutory law that grants him a shred of meaningful protection.  As for mealy mouthed Executive Directive 1 (2010) signed by Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell after Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli created an uproar when he advised Virginia's colleges and universities that the inclusion of sexual their non-discrimination policies was improper, an Executive Directive holds less weight that an Executive order such as the one involved in the Moore matter.  Thus, Executive Directive 1 (2010) is little more than window dressing signed by McDonnell to quell a political firestorm. 

This leaves Finley with a possible lawsuit in federal court under an equal protection or due process claim since ENDA continues to go nowhere in Congress.  Should that course be pursued, Finley will find himself in the 4th Circuit, perhaps the most conservative in the nation, and likely facing an uphill battle.  In sum, it is not a pretty picture, but such is life for LGBT Virginians who face constant religious based discrimination notwithstanding the laughable promise of freedom from religious discrimination under both the Virginia and U. S. Constitutions.  Hence why I recommend that gays considering a move to Virginia rethink the situation.

Virginia Commonwealth University Coach Fired for Being Gay

Many readers may be shocked by the title of this post, but hear in Virginia, LGBT citizens have absolutely zero state law employment protections and since Congress has never passed ENDA, there are no federal law protections either.  This was made abundantly clear by (1) Governor Bob McDonnell's refusal to sign an Executive Order adding sexual orientation to the Commonwealth of Virginia's employment non-discrimination policy, and (2) the refusal of the Virginia Supreme Court to consider an appeal by Michael Moore a state employee fired for being gay in Moore v. Virginia Museum of Natural History.  With virulently anti-gay Ken Cuccinelli the apparent GOP nominee for governor in the 2013 elections, a GOP win would likely guarantee that more anti-gay witch hunts would ensue throughout state agencies and universities.  GayRVA looks at the latest travesty at Virginia Commonwealth University ("VCU").  Here are highlights:

For eight years James Finley went to work for VCU’s women’s volleyball team. For eight years he poured his heart and soul into his team of women. And on Monday November 19th, James Finley was fired. Finley says the reasons for his contract termination are simple. It wasn’t his winning record. It wasn’t his personal commitment to the team. It wasn’t the move to a tougher competing conference his team earned under his guidance. According to Finley, it was because he was openly gay.

People picked the Rams to take 6th place. Instead they took 3rd, with a final record of 25-6 overall in the regular season- they got as far as the semi finals – a solid standing for a team in their first A10 championship.

On Nov. 19th, the Monday after they returned from the championships, Coach Finley had a message waiting for him from AD McLaughlin’s secretary. “They wanted a confidential meeting,” said Finley. He figured it was to discuss his contract renewal – most VCU coaches are on year-to-year contracts, and at the end of seasons, coaches and administration get together to discuss their future together.

But when Finley met with McLaughlin this time, the conversation was different. “He said they wanted to go in a different direction,” said Finley. The new direction did not include Finley as the head coach of his team. It did not include Finley on staff at all.

[T]here were several red flags that popped up throughout the season leading up to this moment.

“From the beginning he interacted with other coaches, staffs, other teams. He participated [with them], and  with ours he didn’t…  At booster events, he avoided me whenever I was there. [I'd be] having a conversation with him and he’d walk away when I was trying to talk to him. I’d say ‘Hi’ and he’d look up at me, and put his head back down and not acknowledge me.”

Finley didn’t think much of the issue as the season passed, but on Oct. 5th, when Pat Stauffer, a 30-year-veteran of VCU athletics and an open lesbian, was demoted from Senior Women’s Administrator to  Sr. Associate AD for Sports Administration. It was too much for Finley, it was another red flag.

Since his meeting with McLaughlin, Finley has taken action within the university system to solve his problem. He met with VCU’s VP of Diversity this week. He was told diversity was one of VCU’s core values, and that an investigation was started to examine his dismissal and his charge of discrimination. When asked what he wanted, Finley said “I’d like to have my job back.”

Virginia lacks sexual orientation in its list of protected classes for employment. However, VCU does include it in their anti-discrimination policy. Finley believes this policy was violated.

John Sternlicht, Finley’s husband and a lawyer, admits it’s very hard to prove discrimination in most cases – you have to look at the entire circumstance to understand what has happened. He believes his husband’s situation, with the lack of normal treatment and the demotion of the other LGBT employee, is evidence enough. “You have to have enough evidence to get your case to a jury or your case is thrown out,” said Sternlicht, “and this would be enough to get to a jury.”

The language McLaughlin used also caused Boyd and her teammates some concern.

“He said ‘We want someone to better represent the school,’ and coach had never done anything to misrepresent the school – he’s always very appropriate and nice to people, even when people are rude to him. I’ve never seen him in my 5 years misrepresent the school in any way.”

Boyd agrees with Finley and does not think this issue comes from the college’s higher-ups. “Our school is very diverse, I wouldn’t really expect this… I don’t think it’s VCU, I think it’s on the administrative side. I don’t want to throw the AD under the bus, but we never had an issue until he got here.”

And if a law suit ensues, who will represent VCU?  You guessed it, Ken Cuccinelli.  Anyone in their right mind should not want to move to Virginia.  And as I have noted many times before, were circumstances different, I'd move from Virginia in a heart beat.  Under Bob McDonnell and the Christofascists at The Family Foundation, an FOTF and FRC affiliate, Virginia is best suited for knuckle dragging Neanderthals.