But I think what you're pointing to is more about how it should be handled from a PR standpoint and the central question is basically whether or not the university should be releasing details about the misconduct at this point.
I'm not really sure, honestly. My instinct is that it's really not their role to do so, but that it's also inevitable that the details will eventually come out. If the goal for the University should be to justify their handling, I think you can make the case they should have communicated more detail.
But if the goal's to protect themselves from liability, I suspect their approach makes the most sense.
[/QUOTE]This is fair. I’m approaching this more from a communications and credibility standpoint than a pure legal-liability one. Ideally, legal and communications should be working hand-in-hand to serve both objectives.
In a private workplace, privacy constraints are understandably tighter than they are at a public institution like OU. From the outside, this feels less like a legal requirement and more like a choice to remain vague.
I tend to find examples more persuasive than abstractions, so it’s useful to look at how other schools have handled similar situations.
“Based on the complaints, the IU office of vice president and general counsel conducted an investigation and concluded that Corsaro’s behavior did not meet the university’s values and standards regarding the treatment of student athletes. Based on these conclusions, IU Indianapolis has dismissed Paul Corsaro.”
"When the university first became aware of the complaints by students and families about the environment and behavior of coaches in the baseball program, we immediately conducted an internal investigation that led to the firing of Troy Nakamura and official reprimand of Nino Giarratano," McDermott said in a statement released by the school.
"The new allegations in the lawsuit as well as Giarratano's recent behavior in allowing Nakamura access to baseball operations is extremely concerning. As a result, we have taken actions to make changes in baseball program leadership."
[QUOTE=Non-Coaching University Dismissal Example]
“After an independent review, the University determined that the employee violated university policy regarding research integrity, and his employment is terminated effective immediately.”