Former WVU assistant athletic director sues school

CHARLESTON - A former West Virginia University assistant athletic director says Mountaineer Country is no place for old men.

The university, its board of governors and President James Clements are named as co-defendants in a wrongful termination suit filed by Mike Kerin. In his complaint filed June 21 in Kanawha Circuit Court, Kerin alleges after 30 years with in the athletic department, he was pushed out two years ago and replaced by someone younger with less qualifications.

Kerin’s suit lacks specifics except that his employment from WVU was terminated on Aug. 31, 2011, despite performing “his duties in a satisfactory and exemplary manner.” WVU violated the state Human Rights Act, he alleges, when following his termination, he was replaced “by employees who were much younger and who did not meet the minimum qualifications his position required as set forth in his job description.”

Also, Kerin alleges his case is not an isolated incident. Without providing details, WVU’s athletic department, he says, engaged in a “pattern of discriminatory conduct by terminating the employment of experienced employees… by replacing the older employees with younger employees.”

WVU Athletic Director Oliver Luck and head football coach Dana Holgorson are also named as co-defendants in the suit.

In his suit, Kerin alleges the defendants’ actions caused him to suffer indignity, embarrassment and humiliation and loss of consortium. Kerin’s wife, Kathy, is named as a co-plaintiff in the suit.

They seek unspecified damages to include lost wages and benefits, back pay and front pay, interest attorneys fees and court costs. They are represented by Williamson attorney Susan J. Van Zant.

The case is assigned to Judge Louis H. “Duke” Bloom.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number 13-C-1166