Case Analysis #3 - Zarowin v. Hunter College

Overview:

Until last spring, Edwin Zarowin thought his job was secure. He was 31 years into coaching men’s and women’s cross-country and track and field at Hunter College , after having coached at Brooklyn Technical High School for 21 years. He was 88.

A new college cross-country season is beginning, but Zarowin will no longer be Hunter’s coach. Unhappy over his situation, Zarowin has filed an age discrimination and retaliation complaint against Hunter, and some current and former athletes have waged an online war. He and his supporters assert that the college unfairly, and perhaps illegally, decided that Zarowin was simply too old.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) is a federal law that protects workers and job applicants age 40 and over from age-based discrimination in all aspects of employment.

Age discrimination in the workplace persists as a serious and pervasive problem. Charges of age discrimination spiked during the Great Recession (December 2007 to June 2009). It’s not easy to win if you file a complaint, but there are ways to bolster your case.

Please review the attached “Former Longtime Coach Accuses Hunter College of Age Discrimination” article the accompanying video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsgCtg5RoiI)

Please also visit the following websites to research the laws governing employment law and discrimination:

· The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Website- http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/index.cfm

· The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) Website- http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adea.cfm

Zarowin v. Hunter College

Please review the above referenced case and respond to the following questions in a 2-3 page double- spaced paper utilizing information gleaned from the Introduction to Sport Law text, the course materials and other materials you find through researching laws governing Employment Law and Discrimination. Please submit this case analysis through Blackboard by the end of Week Eight .

1. What are the issues, facts and circumstances that have led to this law suit?

2. What are the governing laws relating to the issue?

3. How does U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission law apply to these unique facts?

4. What was the purpose for the creation of ADEA laws?

5. If you were the ruling on this case, what would your decision be? Please explain how you arrived at this decision.

By NEIL AMDURSEPT. 3, 2015

Edwin Zarowin, 88, has filed an age discrimination/retaliation complaint against Hunter College after being dropped as the coach of men’s and women’s cross-country and track and field. CreditKirsten Luce for The New York Times

Until last spring, Edwin Zarowin thought his job was secure. He was 31 years into coaching men’s and women’s cross-country and track and field atHunter College, after coaching at Brooklyn Technical High School for 21 years. He was 88.

A new college cross-country season is beginning this weekend, but Zarowin will no longer be Hunter’s coach. Unhappy over his situation, Zarowin has filed an age discrimination and retaliation complaint against Hunter, and some current and former athletes have waged an online war. He and his supporters assert that the college unfairly, and perhaps illegally, decided that Zarowin was simply too old.

Hunter officials initially refused to discuss Zarowin or his job status, after proposing that he accept a position as an “athletic archivist” at the college. Zarowin said Athletic Director Terry Wansart had listed a slow work pace, poor technology skills and resistance to taking direction as factors behind his “unsatisfactory” annual performance review.

Zarowin with members of Hunter College's 1997-98 women's team, which won titles in cross- country and indoor and outdoor track and field.

Zarowin rejected the job offer in a June 1 letter to Wansart, saying, “If it is your decision that this is the only option open to me, you will — in essence — have fired me.”

Wansart, in a statement released last week by college representatives, said, “We truly hoped that he would have accepted the position as sports archivist, a role that people would honor and appreciate, and continue to contribute to the Hunter community in a valued way.”

Darnley D. Stewart, Zarowin’s lawyer, who filed the initial grievance on age discrimination grounds with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on July 10, said in the complaint that her client was being “relegated to being an office assistant.”

Memorabilia in Zarowin's home in Brooklyn. He was named a conference coach of the year 33 times and was inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame in 1996.CreditKirsten Luce for The New York Times

“If you wanted to push him out, there’s a right way to do it, a humane way to do it,” said Stewart, who filed an amended charge including retaliation on Aug. 7.

Last year, Hunter held a 30-year celebration event for Zarowin that was attended by past and present athletes. Zarowin, who coached three national champions and 23 all-Americans, was named a City University of New York Athletic Conference coach of the year 33 times (he was recognized in multiple sports), and he was inducted into theHunter College Hall of Fame in 1996.

But in January, in what Zarowin said was “the first negative review of my career,” Wansart checked “continued employment” for Zarowin on his employee evaluation form but also cited “recruitment, retention and graduation rate needs, utilization of technology, and improve supervision with coaches and knowledge of NCAA rules and regulations.”

A photograph in Zarowin's home. Hunter held a 30-year celebration event for him last year that was attended by past and present athletes.CreditKirsten Luce for The New York Times

Julio Piazza, who retired two years ago after 27 years as the track and cross-country coach at Lafayette College, described the Hunter response as “bureaucratic speak.”

“He was hired to coach,” said Piazza, a middle-distance runner for Zarowin 50 years ago at Brooklyn Tech and later a standout at the University of Pennsylvania. “The most important thing: Is he giving to kids quality understanding and experience? And he has.”

Zarowin’s unconventional style of training sprints and hurdles in campus gyms and hallways instead of at the 168th Street Armory in Upper Manhattan proved successful. But with Hunter athletes often living off campus and saddled with work and classroom commitments, suiting up enough competitors to fulfill N.C.A.A. regulations became a sensitive issue.

Stewart said she had talked to Laura S. Hertzog, special counsel to Hunter’s president, Jennifer Raab. “What she told me is that there have been N.C.A.A. violations,” Stewart said in a phone interview, referring to the minimum number of athletes required for a team at a meet. “I said, ‘Please send me a letter.’ That doesn’t exist.”

Asked about conversations with Stewart, Hertzog replied in an Aug. 21 email, “It is my policy never to comment on pending matters in which an employee is represented by counsel.”

Last month, Hunter announced the hiring of a new coach, Daniel Selsky, who was an assistant at Sarah Lawrence College last year. Stewart said a mediation session under the auspices of the

E.E.O.C. had been scheduled for Oct. 15, with Zarowin and Hunter officials scheduled to appear. Photo

Zarowin, top left, with the Brooklyn Technical High School track team in 1966. He coached at Brooklyn Tech for 21 years before moving to Hunter College.CreditSteven Sutton/DuomoContinue reading the main story

The past year has been stressful for Zarowin for other reasons. His wife of 67 years, Mary, died in December after a prolonged illness that required caregiving and schedule adjustments.

“I saw a lot of stress,” said Sidney Milden, who ran for Zarowin at Brooklyn Tech and has been an assistant at Hunter, on and off, since 1986. “But he was still able to give a lot to the program.”

Not enough for some athletes, however. Walter Rodriguez, a senior who finished second in the 10,000-meter run at the city championships, wrote on the website iPetitions: “I have not grown as an athlete because his current coaching methods have not allowed me to be successful, and our small team only grows smaller and less prosperous.”

Zarowin’s home in Brooklyn is filled with memorabilia from his years of coaching.CreditKirsten Luce for The New York Times

But the overwhelming majority of athletes on iPetitions spoke fondly of “Coach Z,” as he is known, on many levels.

“He taught me that I can be anything you put your mind to,” wrote Natalia Bonilla of the Bronx, who was among the 139 who had signed the petition supporting Zarowin by Friday evening.

“Under his direction, I became a better athlete,” wrote Tarcizio Rocha of Brazil, class of 1997, who had been a member of the Hunter soccer team and was invited by Zarowin to run cross- country. “And even though I didn’t have much time for training due to work, he got the best of me.”

Even without a job as a head coach in his future, and without the $16,000 annual salary he received at Hunter, Zarowin said he might accept a position as a volunteer assistant for a local high school this fall. A group of his former high school and college athletes is planning a “Celebration of Z” event for next spring.

“Coach Z has earned the right to choose when he wants the race to end,” wrote Donna Mahoney, a former Hunter distance runner from Canada. “And he should always have the last word and step down when he crosses that finish line.”