Former TVCC coach to file suit

Bill Damuth believes he was wrongly terminated following arrest

Robby Robertson The Athens Review

ATHENS — Former Trinity Valley Community College Women’s Basketball Coach Bill Damuth told the Athens Review on Thursday he is planning to take legal action against the college for wrongful termination.

The coach lost his job following an incident at Blinn College in February where he and one of his players was arrested.

The Lady Cardinals are headed to the National Tournament in Salina, Kan., this week following an 88-71 win over Tyler Junior College in the Region XIV Tournament last week.

“This is the only job I have ever wanted,” a tearful Damuth said Thursday morning. “I love Trinity Valley and I think everyone knows this about me. We moved back here for this job. I felt like once Michael (Landers, former head coach) left, I would be the guy.

“I built this team from scratch this season. To have all of this taken away from me in an instant because they (TVCC) don’t have their facts straight is just wrong.”

Damuth said TVCC President Dr. Glendon Forgey didn’t consider any of his accounts of the story from what happened the night of the incident.

“The day after my arrest, I went to meet with Dr. Forgey and Dr. (Rip) Drumgoole,” Damuth said. “I told them what happened and they told me I would have a two-game suspension.

“I was called back to his office a week later and was told I would have to sit out four games, basically until the end of the regular season. They said after that, I would be back for the regional tournament.”

Damuth said Forgey told him the reason he had to sit out four games is because that is how long it would take for him to complete his investigation into the incident. Forgey told Damuth during the time of his suspension, he could not attend practices and he had to complete an anger management class.

“He led me to believe I would be back coaching after that, not terminated,” Damuth said. “His words were, ‘When you get back, we’ll see how things go, and if there is another incident, then we will have to take further action.’”

Forgey would not comment on what was said in the meeting, only stating, “Dr. Drumgoole and I and Jennifer (Robertson) from our human resource department were all here and we know what was said.”

Richard Ray, Damuth’s attorney, said he told his client to comply with everything the college asked him to do.

“I really thought he would have to do a little punishment with the suspension, but I never thought he would lose his job,” Ray said. “That is why I told him to do everything they asked of him. This is why I didn’t want him speaking to any media or talking to anyone on campus. I wanted him to be able to keep his job.”

On February 23, Damuth said he was summoned to Forgey’s office for a third time. He thought he would be reinstated. Instead, he was given the option to resign or be terminated.

“He said due to all of the publicity surrounding the arrest and what Blinn College had been saying about the arrest, he felt I could no longer coach the team,” Damuth said. “He never even considered my side of the story or my accounts of what happened.”

Forgey said he did a thorough investigation of the incident and took what action he thought was necessary.

Damuth said the accounts provided by a Blinn spokesperson that night in Brenham are different from what he claims is the truth. He said the environment was very hostile to begin with.

“The game had to be stopped three times because the crowd was causing a scene,” Damuth said. “When the game was over, I was mad at one of the officials. I followed him off the floor and talked loud enough where he could hear what I was saying. I, in no way, touched him.”

Damuth said when they got to the door that goes into the locker room, a man grabbed him and told him he was under arrest. When he turned around and looked at the man, he said he was stunned.

“I looked at him and asked him who he was,” Damuth said. “The guy didn’t have a uniform on and his badge was on his belt so I didn’t see that. He just told me he was the law and I was going to jail.”

The coach said he asked the man if he would help him get his team into the locker room and he said no and threw him up against the wall.

“I was more concerned about my team at this point,” Damuth said. “They saw what was going on and I just wanted them to get to the locker room so the situation wouldn’t escalate. Like I said, it was a very hostile environment.”

Damuth said when his players saw the officer throw him up against the wall, they started coming toward he and the officer. That is when the officer told freshman post Lesha Dunn she was under arrest, according to the coach.

“I saw Lesha the whole time,” Damuth said. “She did nothing wrong. They just grabbed the first girl that came towards us. I, in no way, resisted arrest. I knew the way the officer was acting that he was mad and I didn’t want to make the situation worse. I did not resist in any way like they said I did.”

Damuth was scheduled to go before the college board of trustees Monday, hoping to get Forgey’s decision reversed. After meeting with his attorney, he withdrew his request.

“I just felt like they would not reverse what the president had done,” Ray said. “I feel like the president did this in haste, before he got all of the facts. I think that will be proven.”

Damuth said he is not seeking to get his job back, even though he loves TVCC and his former players. He wants his name cleared.

“I know some of my actions that night were maybe not right, although coaches do get mad at officials sometimes and even let them know they are not happy,” Damuth said. “But the college would not even back me up and believe my side of things. I would have thought they would have listened to something I said.”

Ray said he was very discouraged to find out the night of the incident, the college just left Damuth and Dunn to “fend for themselves.”

“You would have thought that they would have tried to get them out or find out what happened,” Ray said. “But when I got the call the next day that the college just left them, I couldn’t believe it.

Damuth said he was never given the option to resign. He said Forgey told him he would have 24 hours to decide and the next day a statement was released to the press of his termination.

“I never gave them my answer,” Damuth said. “The next day I heard I was terminated and it came out in the paper.”

Damuth said he feels like the actions of the college have hurt his reputation and therefore he wants that cleared.

Ray said the litigation could take up to two years if Damuth decides to move forward with the suit.

“It will take place right here in the Athens courts if it goes that far. We are prepared to gather depositions from everyone and they will be under oath,” Ray said.

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