Fred Parker, the former head coach of the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team, has accepted a $20,000 offer to drop his wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the university.
In an email forwarded to the Charlatan by Bruce Sevigny, Parker’s lawyer, the former bench boss made the announcement to a group of “friends, colleagues, supporters and former players” Feb. 13.
In the email, Parker said he agreed to accept the sum at this time because he believes to have “established the truth” behind Carleton’s decision to terminate his contract.
When the lawsuit was filed in June 2010, Parker originally sought $400,000 in damages for breach of contract, $100,000 for defamation and $100,000 in punitive damages, Sevigny said.
The lawsuit stemmed from Parker’s removal as head coach on April 30, 2010, after four seasons behind the Ravens’ bench. During that time, Parker led the newly revived team to three consecutive playoff appearances.
At the time of his dismissal, Carleton sent out a press release stating that the firing was due to a breakdown in negotiations over Parker’s new contract.
According to the university, the relationship between the two parties was strained after Parker refused to sign a multi-year contract, opting instead for a one-year deal.
In its statement of defence, Carleton claimed Parker had been disrespectful, critical of university personnel and non-responsive at points during the contract negotiations.
Jennifer Brenning, Carleton’s director of recreation and athletics, said in an October 2010 examination for discovery she thought Parker would have used the one year to look for another job because he was so unhappy with the university’s offer and with the athletics department.
But the current Calgary Flames scout has a different account of the situation.
“I enjoyed good success building the hockey program. On the basis of that success, Carleton approached me to renew my contract and to run their summer hockey camps,” he said in a separate email. “Three weeks after the negotiations started, when we were $3,500 apart in first-year salary, they suddenly pulled the plug on the negotiations, and claimed that they were ‘unable to reach a contract agreement’ with me.”
Shortly after his firing, Parker said he never outright rejected a multi-year deal and was caught off guard when he found out that Carleton was letting him go.
For its part, the university released a statement on the matter through media relations co-ordinator Christopher Cline, after Parker made his announcement.
“We have reached an agreement. Part of that agreement is a commitment to maintain confidentiality of the details of the settlement,” Cline said. “We wish Mr. Parker the best of luck in his future endeavours.”
While he was behind the Ravens’ bench, Parker was making an annual salary of $75,000 per season. By accepting Carleton’s $20,000 offer, he is being compensated with roughly three months pay from that original salary.
It’s an offer he would have accepted immediately following his firing, he said.
“ . . . Ultimately they had to pay me the equivalent of the severance package that I would have accepted (had it been offered, and had they been upfront and candid with me) back in April 2010,” Parker said.
But Parker has been adamant throughout the process that money was never the issue at hand. Instead, he said his main concern was “setting the record straight.”
“As I sit here today, I am confident that right-minded people know the truth about the non-renewal of my coach’s contract, and that there was never any truth to the suggestion that I was not comfortable making a long-term commitment to the program that meant so much to me,” he said. “Clearly, nothing could be further from the truth.”
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