Lawsuit

[cwdickens]

There is truly not much new in article below from today's Times Union, other then Killings declined to comment, which is not surprising.  However, he now knows the allegations in the lawsuit will follow him to every news conference he participates in.

UALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

Killings mum on lawsuit after loss

 

By Abigail Rubel

Mark Singelais / Times Union

UAlbany coach Dwayne Killings was named in a lawsuit filed by former player Luke Fizulich regarding a pregame incident that occurred last season.

The start of the season has not been kind to the University at Albany men’s basketball team.

Two days after star forward Justin Neely tore his ACL in a loss to Siena, former player Luke Fizulich filed a lawsuit against coach Dwayne Killings, athletic director Mark Benson and the university regarding a pregame incident that occurred last November. A day after news of the complaint broke, the Great Danes dropped a 99-79 decision at Saint Joseph’s in which they trailed 35-6 after 12 minutes.

UAlbany (2-3) is still looking for its first Division I win this season.

The suit, filed Monday in federal court, alleges that Killings “violently and viciously grabbed (Fizulich), threw him up against a locker and struck him in the face, drawing blood” as the team was getting ready to play Eastern Illinois University on Nov. 24, 2021.

Killings was investigated by UAlbany for that incident last spring and was found to have made “inappropriate physical contact” with a then-unnamed student in a pregame “hype circle.” He was fined $25,000 and served a five-game suspension that concluded Monday.

The complaint states that UAlbany had decided to fire Killings as a result of its investigation, but that a news conference held by local business and community leaders “rallied up” by a public relations firm working for the coach, who is Black, pressured the school to reverse course — without informing Fizulich, who is white.

Killings declined to comment on the lawsuit after Thursday’s contest at St. Joe’s, though he said that he alerted the players of the possibility of legal action “a week or so ago.”

Apart from an apology letter released at the conclusion of UAlbany’s investigation, Killings has not commented on the incident. Speaking to reporters for the first time after the investigation in April, Killings referred all questions back to his letter and a university statement.

Fizulich, who transferred to UAlbany last season from Marquette, where Killings was an assistant coach, is being represented by Stuart Bernstein of Nesenoff & Miltenberg.

“The facts of this lawsuit couldn’t be any clearer — Coach Killings physically and publicly assaulted our client, student athlete Luke Fizulich, by violently hitting him in the face in the basketball locker room, to the point of drawing blood and busting stitches in his mouth. The assault is not in question, as Coach Killings has admitted it. This is inexcusable conduct for a Division I college coach and SUNY Albany was correctly intending to terminate Coach Killings for the physical assault of a student athlete — until community pressure made them reverse their initial decision,” Bernstein, who is based in New York City, said in a statement to the Times Union.

“Once SUNY Albany reversed their decision to terminate Coach Killings, they placed the victim of the assault at great risk of harm and retaliation by the coach and others. As a result, Mr. Fizulich, the victim, was blacklisted at other schools and has been unsuccessful in his endeavor to find another school with a basketball program that would allow him on their team. His dreams of playing basketball in college and pursuing a basketball career in Europe are shattered, all stemming from the violent assault and retaliation by Coach Killings, and SUNY Albany’s deliberate indifference to Luke Fizulich,” Bernstein continued.

Nesenoff & Miltenberg is “nationally recognized as the leading law firm for representation of college, university and private school students and faculty facing allegations of misconduct,” according to the firm’s website.

The firm is perhaps best known for their work defending college students accused of sexual assault in Title IX cases. Among their previous clients is Paul Nungesser, a Columbia University student who was accused of sexual assault by fellow student Emma Sulkowicz. Nungesser was found not responsible by the school, but Sulkowicz drew national attention to the matter by carrying a mattress around campus as her senior thesis. Nungesser’s suit alleged that Columbia exposed him to gender-based harassment by allowing the project to go forward. The firm also represented a Hamilton College student who sued over the school’s mishandling of an abuse claim filed by Charlotte Bennett, who went on to become former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s most high-profile accuser.

The Great Danes were set to travel to Florida Friday for the Sunshine Slam. UAlbany plays Austin Peay at noon Monday in the first game of the tournament.

“The good part about this is that we’re going to be together for a while. It’s not like we’re going back to school; we’ll be together for a week. So I think this is a good time to find ourselves as a team. We just got to stay positive, keep our heads up and just move on to the next one,” said fifth-year guard Da’Kquan Davis.

▶› Abigail.Rubel@- timesunion.com A @abigail_rubel

[dslyank]

On 11/19/2022 at 6:55 AM, cwdickens said:

However, he now knows the allegations in the lawsuit will follow him to every news conference he participates in.

Not necessarily. If the allegations & claims are proven false and he is exonerated.  Last I recall, this is still a country of innocent until proven guilty. Not sure why everyone is so willing to hang DK out to dry on the word of a "disgruntled" former player; without a single bit of collaborating testimony so far. Let's see what the depositions show before passing judgement IMHO.

[cwdickens]

1 hour ago, dslyank said:

Not necessarily. If the allegations & claims are proven false and he is exonerated.  Last I recall, this is still a country of innocent until proven guilty. Not sure why everyone is so willing to hang DK out to dry on the word of a "disgruntled" former player; without a single bit of collaborating testimony so far. Let's see what the depositions show before passing judgement IMHO.

This is a civil lawsuit vs criminal charges and that be said Killings has already admitted to inappropriate contact in his letter to President Rodriquez.  No one on this forum or in the Albany community are looking to "hang Killing to dry" however at his introduction to the UAlbany sports community, we were promised a better program and/or a "New Mentality".  

He was failed to deliver on his promises.  Further, Killings has bought disgraced to our school and demonstrated he will use any means to save his job. 

[UAlbany09]

Time to get rid of Killings and start fresh. Maybe get a new AD and football coach while they’re at it. 

[jimbo]

43 minutes ago, UAlbany09 said:

Time to get rid of Killings and start fresh. Maybe get a new AD and football coach while they’re at it. 

And if Rodriguez has been signing off on any of this nonsense, why stop there…..

[Eli]

1 hour ago, jimbo said:

And if Rodriguez has been signing off on any of this nonsense, why stop there…..

As far as Rodriguez, it could be worse lol. Remember the last guy? He gave some folks a pedestal when they didn't deserve it and actually turned out to be the instigators in a crime...jumped to conclusions like the immature students attending his university instead of being the grown up in the room (CDTA bus incident for those not familiar). At least Rodriguez hasn't gone that insane as an administrator.

[dslyank]

5 hours ago, cwdickens said:

inappropriate contact in his letter to President Rodriquez.  No one on this forum or in the Albany

the inappropriate contact was reported as NON-malicious accident during a pre-game psych circle. That is far different than intentionally throwing a kid against a locker and punching or slapping in the face. As reported and witnessed by many is NO WAY assault; nor reason for any further penalty. But read on many on this blog are calling for firings, including firing President Rodriquez without out a shred of evidence. 
I think this rhetoric & speculations does not help UA in anyway positive or constructive. IF as you & many on this blog say the incident is/was not as reported and this is proven in civil court or wherever, than absolutely fire anyone involved, INCLUDING all those failing to report honesty in the original investigation. Players, Coaches, Administrators who did not come to the aid of an “abused/assaulted” student should All be punished. But those of you who think President Rodriguez knew of and approved a white washing of the incident are way off base IMHO.

[UAlbany09]

4 minutes ago, dslyank said:

the inappropriate contact was reported as NON-malicious accident during a pre-game psych circle. That is far different than intentionally throwing a kid against a locker and punching or slapping in the face. As reported and witnessed by many is NO WAY assault; nor reason for any further penalty. But read on many on this blog are calling for firings, including firing President Rodriquez without out a shred of evidence. 
I think this rhetoric & speculations does not help UA in anyway positive or constructive. IF as you & many on this blog say the incident is/was not as reported and this is proven in civil court or wherever, than absolutely fire anyone involved, INCLUDING all those failing to report honesty in the original investigation. Players, Coaches, Administrators who did not come to the aid of an “abused/assaulted” student should All be punished. But those of you who think President Rodriguez knew of and approved a white washing of the incident are way off base IMHO.

Killing should be fired because he can’t coach 

[dslyank]

2 minutes ago, UAlbany09 said:

Killing should be fired because he can’t coach 

OK. 

[jimbo]

53 minutes ago, dslyank said:

the inappropriate contact was reported as NON-malicious accident during a pre-game psych circle. That is far different than intentionally throwing a kid against a locker and punching or slapping in the face. As reported and witnessed by many is NO WAY assault; nor reason for any further penalty. But read on many on this blog are calling for firings, including firing President Rodriquez without out a shred of evidence. 
I think this rhetoric & speculations does not help UA in anyway positive or constructive. IF as you & many on this blog say the incident is/was not as reported and this is proven in civil court or wherever, than absolutely fire anyone involved, INCLUDING all those failing to report honesty in the original investigation. Players, Coaches, Administrators who did not come to the aid of an “abused/assaulted” student should All be punished. But those of you who think President Rodriguez knew of and approved a white washing of the incident are way off base IMHO.

I said “if he knew”. Otherwise, never mind. 

[Clickclack]

On 11/20/2022 at 1:29 PM, cwdickens said:

This is a civil lawsuit vs criminal charges and that be said Killings has already admitted to inappropriate contact in his letter to President Rodriquez.  No one on this forum or in the Albany community are looking to "hang Killing to dry" however at his introduction to the UAlbany sports community, we were promised a better program and/or a "New Mentality".  

He was failed to deliver on his promises.  Further, Killings has bought disgraced to our school and demonstrated he will use any means to save his job. 

This is accurate!

[Clickclack]

On 11/20/2022 at 7:12 PM, UAlbany09 said:

Killing should be fired because he can’t coach 

I'm told it's important to know how to coach if you are a coach. Can anyone confirm this to be true?

Edited November 23, 2022 by Clickclack

[jimbo]

Yesterday, I bumped into someone with a UA sweatshirt…we’ve talked in the past about the teams. He’s a long time MBB season ticket holder. He’s also unfamiliar with BPF. And he is also quite upset about the handling of the Killings situation, the extension of Gattuso, the performance of Benson and the proposed changes to SEFCU seat preference. Does the President or Athletic Director know the damage being done to the fan base or do they simply not care? Hopefully he will join BPF and add his voice to the choir. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by jimbo

[Albany Weave]

3 hours ago, jimbo said:

Yesterday, I bumped into someone with a UA sweatshirt…we’ve talked in the past about the teams. He’s a long time MBB season ticket holder. He’s also unfamiliar with BPF. And he is also quite upset about the handling of the Killings situation, the extension of Gattuso, the performance of Benson and the proposed changes to SEFCU seat preference. Does the President or Athletic Director know the damage being done to the fan base or do they simply not care? Hopefully he will join BPF and add his voice to the choir. 

What is the proposed changes to the SEFCU seat preference?

[jimbo]

1 hour ago, Albany Weave said:

What is the proposed changes to the SEFCU seat preference?

I’m not a season ticket holder, but I understand an email went out that suggested that the new system would revolve around current donations rather than historical. I might not have that right so perhaps some others could chime in on this.