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Cleveland Cavaliers Hit With Age Discrimination Lawsuit By Former Assistant Coach


At the start of the month, a lawsuit was filed against the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers by a former assistant coach, Jim Boylan, that alleged age discrimination against the team.  Boylan, 63, who served as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers from 2013 - 2018, did not have his contract renewed after the 2017 - 2018 season.  The suit names Koby Altman (the team's general manager), Dan Gilbert (owner of the team), Cavalier Holdings, LLC, and Cavaliers Operating Company, LLC as defendants in the case.

According to the lawsuit, the head coach of the Cavaliers at the time, Tyronn Lue, left Boylan a voicemail in June of 2018 and said "...I [Lue] had a talk with Koby [Altman] yesterday.  He does not want to pick up your option.  He said that's way too much money.  They're not going to pay that kind of money for three assistants on the bench.  He wants to go younger in that position, and you know, find somebody that's a grinder and younger in that position.  And he said he does not want to pick the option up for I guess it's 500 or - I'm not sure.  He said five something.  And he just said it's too much money, he said, so we'll be paying Longabardi and LD.  So he just said he wanted to go younger at that position and he does not want to pick up the option."

The lawsuit claims that 42 year old Damon Jones was promoted to Boylan's place.  Mike Longabardi, 45, and James Posey, 41, were retained on Lue's staff.  (However, Jones was fired in recent weeks along with Lue.)

Granted, there is still a lot that is not known in this matter, not to mention the fact that none of the defendants have filed an answer in the case.  However, the Cavaliers did release a statement stating that the option on whether to renew Boylan's contract was at the discretion of the team, as provided for in the negotiated and executed contract between the parties.  The statement concluded with the assertion that the lawsuit was nothing short of a cash grab.

With that being said, if Lue's comments are true in regard to the team wanting to go younger in the position (as the reason for not picking up an Boylan's option), that does not reflect well on the team's justification for replacing Boylan.  Couple that alleged statement from Lue with the allegation that Gilbert has "a pattern and practice of age discrimination across" his corporate organizations, if Boylan is able establish a pattern of age discrimination, that could prove to be trouble for the defendants in this case.  Readers might recall that one of Gilbert's companies, Quicken Loans, has been the subject of age discrimination lawsuits in the past.  But as a word of caution, an individual or employer that has been confronted with age, sex, race, or other related discrimination lawsuits previously does not necessarily mean there a pattern or practice of discrimination exists.  It takes very little for someone to file a discrimination lawsuit against an individual or employer.  A prior history of discrimination lawsuits alone should not be viewed as an admission of guilt or liability.

Stay tuned.


For a copy of the lawsuit filed November 1, 2018:  https://www.scribd.com/document/392204488/Jim-Boylan-lawsuit#from_embed

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