Football: Baldwin case sent back

Appeals court vacates $2 million judgment against UL over firing

Brady Aymond • baymond@theadvertiser.com • July 2, 2009

The ball is back in Jerry Baldwin’s court.

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge vacated a $2 million judgment against the UL Board of Supervisors and former Ragin’ Cajun athletic director Nelson Schexnayder. That judgment came after a jury found that Baldwin, a former head football coach at UL, was terminated, in part, because of racial discrimination.

The appeals court remanded the case for a new trial. Baldwin also could appeal the ruling further to the state Supreme Court. Efforts to reach Karl Benard, lead counsel for Baldwin, as well as attorneys representing UL, were unsuccessful.

Baldwin, who served as UL’s head football coach from 1999-2001, filed a lawsuit after being terminated following the 2001 season.

Claiming breach of contract, discrimination and emotional distress, Baldwin filed the suit naming UL, the UL System Board of Supervisors and then-Athletic Director Nelson Schexnayder as defendants. UL was later dismissed as a defendant.

The university argued that Baldwin’s contract was terminated because of performance and dwindling attendance. Baldwin’s teams went 6-27 during his three seasons as head coach and attendance at Cajun games dipped from 15,289 in Baldwin’s first year to 13,323 in his final season.

In 2007, a jury ruled that Baldwin’s race wasn’t "the only reason he lost the job, but one of the reasons."

Baldwin was awarded $2 million in damages, including $600,000 for emotional distress.

The appellate court heard the appeal on Tuesday in Baton Rouge. In its ruling, the court cited, "more than one reversible error, ranging from juror selection to a judgment not reflective of the jury verdict" for vacating the judgment.

In their appeal, attorneys for the UL Board of Supervisors and Schexnayder argued the jury verdict form contradicted itself.

On the issue of racial discrimination, the jury answered no to the first question of whether Baldwin’s termination was because of his race. However, the jury answered yes to the question of whether Baldwin’s race played a determining factor in his termination.

On the issue of breach of contract, the jury answered yes to the question of whether UL breached its contract with Baldwin. But in a second question, the jury answered no to the question of whether the breach of contract was in bad faith only to answer yes to another question asking if the termination of Baldwin "violated moral rules or elementary fairness, or was in bad faith."

In a July 10, 2008 story in The Advertiser, Larry Marino, one of the attorneys representing the defendants cited numerous inconsistencies among the jurors.

"They held that Coach Baldwin was not fired because of his race, but they also held that race was a determining factor in his firing. That’s inconsistent," Marino said at the time. "You also have them saying breach of contract, but in finding that, also finding there was an abuse of rights. … How can you find an abuse of rights if there was a breach of contract?"