Photo by Al Seib / Los Angels Times via Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — The University of Southern California said Friday that a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former head football coach Steve Sarkisian last month violates an arbitration agreement between the school and the coach.
ESPN.com obtained the formal legal response filed by the school, which also disputed some of Sarkisian’s claims, calling them “half-truths and, in many cases, outright falsehoods.” Sarkisian, 41, was fired in October 2015 after he was asked to take an indefinite leave of absence over accusations that he arrived at team facilities while appearing to be intoxicated.
That followed a preseason incident in which Sarkisian apologized for remarks at a booster event in which he slurred his words and used profanity.
Sarkisian’s lawsuit seeks $30 million in damages, saying that he suffers from alcoholism, which is a protected disability in the state of California.
“It is absolutely false that Sarkisian ever admitted to having a drinking problem, to being an alcoholic or to needing to seek treatment,” USC’s response states. The school also says that Sarkisian blamed his inability to perform aspects of his job on “marital stress, lack of sleep and anxiety for which he was taking medication.”
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