Lawyer Seeks to Overturn Knight’s Firing

B L O O M I N G T O N, Ind., Oct. 3 -- A lawsuit contends Indiana Universityviolated the state’s open meeting law when it fired basketballcoach Bob Knight.

The complaint was filed Monday by lawyers Roy Graham and Gojko Kasich on behalf of 46 plaintiffs from Indiana and other states.

“The issue is fairness,” Graham said. “The issue is not what Bobby Knight did or didn’t do.”

Kasich said he has never had any contact with Knight. He addedthat the intent of the suit was not necessarily to overturn thefiring.

Violation of the Open Door?

“We realistically don’t expect coach Knight to be sitting on the IU bench,” he said.

The lawsuit stems from Sept. 9 meetings between universitypresident Myles Brand and members of the board of trustees in which the basketball coach’s job was discussed.

Brand fired Knight on Sept. 10, saying he violated a“zero-tolerance” behavior policy that had been in place since May.

The lawsuit asks Judge Elizabeth Mann to declare the Sept. 9meetings in violation of Indiana’s Open Door Law. It further asks that Mann order the university to not commit similar violations and to declare Knight’s firing void.

Graham and Kasich say the meetings between Brand and groups of four trustees were public meetings as defined by state law. Assuch, the university should have made public notice of the meeting,the complaint says.

Even a closed door executive session to discuss personnelmatters must be announced by public notice 48 hours in advance. The university has said the meetings did not trigger the open meetings law because fewer than half the board of trustees attended any onemeeting with Brand.

“We did what we did,” university counsel Dorothy Frapwell said. “People were in town and Myles was sharing information. We did not want a quorum there. That is true.”

Reading Between the Lines

Frapwell also said a 1987 act by the board of trustees gives theuniversity president sole authority to fire Knight. Knight’sattorney, Russell Yates, said in September that Brand’s firing of Knight was in accord with the rules established in the coach’scontract.