Saying basically they made up reasons to fire him for cause to avoid paying his buyout so they could take that money to hire Slick Rick Pitino. He wants the $11.4 million left on his contract and three times that in punitive damages.
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I hope he gets every dime. St. John’s is despicable.
Mike Anderson is one of the most honorable men I know.
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Kind of a parallel with Nolan. Ending careers with a lawsuit. Kind of sad, even though both had a legit reason to file the lawsuit.
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Mike deserved better! St.Johns wanted Rick but didn’t have to lie about Mike. I agree with Jeremy I hope he makes them pay dearly!!
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MA will win his lawsuit. NR didn’t.
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It’s disgusting to see what St. John’s is trying to do for a wonderful guy. Then hire a proven scumbag.
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Like most have said. I hope he takes them to the cleaners. Wheeze them for every oenny.
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He’s got an $11 million lawsuit. Not a $40+ million lawsuit. I bet they settle for less than $10 million. Nice payday for Mike. He’s not an effective coach any more. Good guy. But not a great coach. He made a nice living and I’m glad for that. Good luck Mike.
Most lawsuits are settled and I agree that this one will be settled for less than $10 million. But what a bad look for St. John’s especially after hiring Pitino.
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Read the story guys. It’s not a lawsuit. It’s a request for arbitration. And arbitration is the two parties make a proposal and the arbitrator picks one; there’s no splitting the difference. Of course they could settle before the arbitrator rules, but it’s not a lawsuit.
Should remove the “Saint” from that University.
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As Swine pointed out, it is not a lawsuit. I bet arbitrator rules for $11m that is contractually owed to him plus another $10 for punitive damages.
An arbitration is a form of lawsuit — or a claim — except the forum is not in regular court. It’s instead decided before an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators, not a “regular judge” in court. However, the regular judge eventually confirms the award and makes it enforceable and collectible, just like a judgment. Otherwise, the arbitration award would be worthless.
The same substantive law usually governs in arbitration — in this case likely NY law. Ordinarily, you can’t get punitive damages for breach of contract under NY law or any state’s law. Business decisions are frequently made to breach contracts. As long as the contract is paid, it’s bad policy to punish the breaching party. Breach of contract actions do allow the damaged contract party to collect attorney fees. That’s the risk of intentionally breaching a contract and not paying the remainder of the contract.
Breach of contract is going to be Mike’s far best claim. There may be a BS fraud claim or the like thrown in, just to have a foothold to claim punitive damages. But I seriously doubt that goes anywhere at all. Arbitrators are kind of famous for “splitting the baby” (for you Biblical folks). That’s why I say Mike’s lawsuit is really for the remaining part of his contract, which I understand is $11 million. SJ will likely settle for slightly less to avoid having to pay Mike’s attorney fees.
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Damn right, love. I hope Mike wheezes them for every oenny, too!
Don’t most arbitrators usually vote in favor of the Corporation or Institution in cases like this?
I don’t think that’s any hard and fast rule of thumb. Unless St. John’s gets to pick the arbitrator per the contract language. 
Hope that MA gets the $11M plus $10M in damages per recognizing that MA’s attorney may receive a sizable portion of any settlement paid to MA. The arbitrators need to send a message to any team that it is unacceptable to fabricate a “firing for cause” argument in their efforts to negotiate down their buyout to a coach. MA’s character is not in question here, but St John’s character should be.
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CMA is a good man with character above reproach! I find it sickening they fired him for cause.
ST Johns hired the coach that represents there imagine a complete scum bag. I hope Slick Rick introduces them to stopper gage or he invents something else news worthy.
Well, they are questioning his character that he did not pay attention to academics of student athletes. SJU must believe they have something on Mike. Otherwise why would they make such a claim? Question is can SJU prove it?
If Arbitrator determines that SJU is simply trying to find an excuse to negotiate with or not pay MA, they may pay big $ penalties. Interesting that SJU extended MA’s contract in '21 which indicates SJU believed MA was performing up to their standards. Was MA warned prior to his firing? What do SJU internal & booster emails reveal? Does hiring of Petino who has questionable character & negotiating with him prior to MA’s firing support or damage SJU’s claims about MA? MA may have some valid arguments, assuming no smoking guns.
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