Michigan head football coach Rich Rodriguez can concentrate on the season ahead now that a contentious lawsuit with his former employer is behind him. But Rodriguez will be reminded of the dispute in the future when he has to pay WVU $1.5 million.
That's Rodriguez's share of the $4 million in liquidated damages he must pay his former employer for violating his contract.
Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million in $500,000 installments over a three year period that begins in 2010 while Michigan will pay $2.5 million immediately as well as Rodriguez’s legal fees.
WVU will be responsible for paying its own legal fees. No word yet on how much that will be.
WVU will get the first installment of the settlement soon. "We are scheduled to get a check for $2.5 million by the end of the month," said WVU attorney Tom Flaherty.
WVU’s Board of Governor’s yesterday approved the $4 million settlement ending a legal battle that began last December when Rodriguez stunned his alma mater by leaving to accept the head coaching job at Michigan.
The settlement was reached just before midnight Tuesday night after nearly two days of negotiations between the two sides.
Rodriguez balked at paying the buyout claiming he had been defrauded by the University, essentially tricked into signing his new contract last August, but WVU argued that Rodriguez understood what he was signing.
A break in the case came two nights ago with a face to face meeting between representatives of WVU and Rodriguez along with a mediator. Talks continued yesterday and the two sides reached an agreement just before midnight last night.
“We just kept moving on multiple fronts,” said Flaherty.
One key that triggered a settlement appeared to be the pressure brought by WVU to depose Michigan President Sue Coleman and Athletic Director Bill Martin. There was a hearing scheduled in Michigan this afternoon on WVU’s attempts to force the two to testify under oath what they knew about the hiring of Rodriguez and the buyout clause in the contract with WVU.
WVU was trying to show that Rodriguez must have understood the buyout provision because he negotiated with Michigan to help with the payment.
Another key development was Michigan’s release of documents that reportedly showed Michigan agreed to help pay the buyout.
