No policy against bringing in charged player: Arbitrator
A Saskatchewan university volleyball coach has been reinstated by an arbitrator after he was fired for recruiting a player charged with sexual assault and making controversial comments to the media about it.
Brian Gavlas was the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskie Athletics men’s volleyball team in Saskatoon. He was appointed to the position in 1992 and had a significant amount of success, becoming a “level 3” senior head coach — the highest level in the university’s athletics department.
On May 15, 2018, a newspaper story about Matthew Meyer, a member of the men’s volleyball team, revealed that he had pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges. The article contained comments from Gavlas saying he knew about the situation but not the charges. Gavlas also commented that “my major concern was for him individually as a young adult and what this mistake in his life is causing him or costing him, and what we could do to make sure that the path forward is the best possible path forward.”
The story was covered in other news media and the comments drew criticism for reflecting a problematic attitude towards sexual assault.
The university investigated and found that Gavlas had known about the charges when Meyer joined the volleyball team in 2016 but didn’t tell his supervisor. Gavlas claimed he didn’t know the details and Meyer had told him he was pleading not guilty. He claimed Meyer had only told him he was taking a plea deal with a guilty plea in early 2018. He acknowledged he should have contacted the media team before commenting to the media and recognized that he had put the university in a bad position.
Gavlas also explained that while it was his job to recruit players, Meyer had contacted him after transferring to the university because of the sexual assault incident at his previous school because Gavlas knew Meyers and his family.
On May 17, the university terminated Gavlas’ employment for a “lack of judgment” in recruiting Meyer and failing to inform the university, as well as commenting to the media without vetting the media request through “appropriate university personnel.” His letter of termination stated that his position as a head coach required “a higher duty of trust and accountability” which had been broken and deemed irreparable.
The arbitrator found that there was no policy that prohibited the recruitment of a student athlete convicted or charged of a criminal offence. In addition, Gavlas didn’t actively recruit Meyer, he honestly believed there was nothing preventing him from adding Meyer to the volleyball team, and he believed Meyer was pleading not guilty, said the arbitrator, noting that Gavlas wasn’t aware of the details at the time.
The arbitrator also found that there was no media policy for coaches and Gavlas had never had to vet his media requests before.
“I am inclined to accept the union’s view that the University of Saskatchewan panicked and acted rashly in dismissing [Gavlas],” said the arbitrator. “[Gavlas] was the scapegoat.”
The arbitrator agreed that Gavlas ought to have known that the recruitment of a player with a sexual assault charge was something management should know, if not at the start then when he learned of the guilty plea months before the story came out. This was a breach of his duty to the university and warranted discipline, said the arbitrator.
The arbitrator considered Gavlas’ 26 years of service, his cooperation with the investigation, his concern over how the incident would affect the university, and the fact that the only misconduct was failing to report the recruitment of Meyer — the latter of which could be remedied through progressive discipline as outlined in the collective agreement. The university was ordered to reinstate Gavlas with compensation for loss of wages and benefits.
Reference: Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Assn. and University of Saskatchewan. William Hood — arbitrator. Marie Stack for employer. Gary Bainbridge. for union. July 13, 2020. 2020 CarswellSask 368
