Pilots guard Crisshawn Clark Sues Head Coach!!

No, Crisshawn is NOT suing Terry Porter, he's filed a lawsuit against Ducks Head Coach Dana Altman and his staff!

Interesting....Crisshawn will probably graduate before this is resolved, but besides the financial implications, will the NCAA have anything to say?

http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2017/10/university_of_portland_basketb.html

Yeesh. OregonLive comment sections are notoriously toxic, but the one here is particularly bad. What's up with the angry Duck fans?

My "favorite" one begins like this: "If UP ever has the balls to schedule Oregon again..."

The ending is a bit too much for a family forum like this, but sheesh... does this guy actually think it's UP that doesn't have the guts to play UO? Laughable. Any time they want to schedule a home-and-home, I guarantee the Pilots will be there. But it will never happen under Altman, unlike Ernie Kent.

Damn it Stoney, I took the bait and read through some of the comments. I'm glad I don't do that on a regular basis.

I also read the actual complaint that was posted. Clark must not have been able to find an attorney to take the case because he's representing himself.

Wow, and all of Crisshawn's contact info is right there in the article. OregonLive couldn't have had the decency to black that out before posting? Hope he's not dealing with random crazies texting him fresh out of that comment section.

Yeah, I saw that too. I started to mention it in my comment, but decided I didn't want to point it out.  Hopefully duck fans don't bother to read the actual complaint.

Contact info is sharpied out.

I wonder if anybody called him on it?

Geezaldinho wrote:Contact info is sharpied out.

I wonder if anybody called him on it?

Haha, if you're talking about the author Tyson Alger......oh, I imagine someone did!

From what I can gather, this lawsuit caught the UP staff totally flat-footed; they knew nothing until reading the O-Live article or spotting it on PilotNation.

Wait...


Coaches read PN?

We should at least recognize Mr. Clark's courage for filing this lawsuit "In pro se." Abraham Lincoln admonished those who would represent themselves as having fools for a client, but despite honest Abe's cautionary language, it takes real guts to file a calm like this against a large institution, even when you feel you are in the right, as Crisshawn clearly feels he is.

Bully for Crisshawn and good luck.

wrv wrote:We should at least recognize Mr. Clark's courage for filing this lawsuit "In pro se." Abraham Lincoln admonished those who would represent themselves as having fools for a client, but despite honest Abe's cautionary language, it takes real guts to file a calm like this against a large institution, even when you feel you are in the right, as Crisshawn clearly feels he is.

Bully for Crisshawn and good luck.

You really think that filing was by a college student?

If so, give him his graduate  degree and send him to his State bar exam.

No way do I believe that Crisshawn drafted the complaint--it is too refined and cites too many laws. Nothing against Crisshawn, but that complaint was drafted by a lawyer or a law student, likely for free.

The issue of Crisshawn's courage really has nothing to do with who drafted the complaint. His name remains on the complaint without a lawyer: brave stuff, imho.

So you are saying it might have something to do with his right to free counsel against the State?

Glad to see his info was redacted.

Also, in this day and age of partisan media I think this DoubleDipper kid has a future writing clickbait headlines for social media! He got me hook, line, and sinker with this thread title.

Geezaldinho wrote:So you are saying it might have something to do with his right to free counsel against the State?

It would be an interesting world if the state would up-front pay for you to sue them. I suspect that taxpayers, a few of whom may even post here, would not be happy with that use of funds.

There is no right to free counsel unless you are indigent and your freedom is in peril because you are being prosecuted for a crime, and even then if convicted you are required to pay funds back. But contrary to almost all suggestions otherwise, people in the law business, lawyers, do volunteer their time.

I think we agree that Crisshawn did not draft the complaint. If he had paid someone to draft the complaint, there is a rule that requires a certificate to be filed with the complaint indicating who he paid to draft the complaint, provided that person is a lawyer. I assume there was no such certificate attached (at least none in the linked document) and hence he did not pay a lawyer to draft the complaint. No certificate necessary if the drafting was unpaid.

Perhaps he didn’t pay, so no certificate would be necessary. And perhaps the counsel who wrote it isn’t admitted to the Oregon Bar, so he would not be a lawyer in Oregon.

And perhaps an attorney with an Oregon Bar membership card is forthcoming.

But he didn’t write a sentence of that other than signing his name.

Nothing to do with Crisshawn, but a lot to do with assault apologist, Dana Altman, IMO.....

SI College Hoops wrote:Kavell Bigby-Williams played and entire season for Oregon while under investigation for rape.  How was that allowed?

SI College Hoops wrote:The details of a Title IX investigation into Kavell Bigby-Williams's alleged rape are more jarring given the program

Very lengthy Sports Illustrated article here: https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/10/25/oregon-kavell-bigby-williams-title-ix-investigation

Four and a half years later, and with the ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals, Crisshawn's lawsuit continues on...

https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2022/05/oregon-court-of-appeals-overturns-ruling-in-favor-of-uo-mens-basketball-staff-in-negligence-claim-of-former-recruit.html

And four and a half years later, your click-baity headline still gets me every time!!

I was actually thinking about this a couple weeks ago when we were discussing Pilots transferring from P5 schools. Had no idea it was still ongoing.

Dean Murdoch wrote:And four and a half years later, your click-baity headline still gets me every time!!

I was actually thinking about this a couple weeks ago when we were discussing Pilots transferring from P5 schools. Had no idea it was still ongoing.

The backlog of cases at the Oregon Court of Appeals is beyond insane.  For example, this case was argued and submitted to the Court of Appeals all the way back on July 20, 2020.  It then took the panel almost two years to turn out a (relatively short) 13 page decision.  (For those interested, here is a link to the full opinion.)  It's not the judges' fault--there are just too many cases and not enough judges to handle them.

Although this is definitely a procedural win for Crisshawn, it's not a win on the merits of his case.  Now the case gets sent back to the Lane County Circuit Court, where he will actually be able to have a trial on the merits in who knows how many months.  Fortunately (speaking from some professional experience), Crisshawn is in great hands with the attorneys on his legal team.  They're some of the best around.

I read the Appeals Court ruling, and certainly from a moral standpoint, and perhaps a legal one too, Crisshawn certainly seems to have a valid case.  

Although not germane to the case, just the fact that it was against NCAA rules for UO to be working him out when he still had JUCO eligibility remaining is more than a little disappointing...and it seemed the UO staff knew exactly what they were doing, and would not have gotten "caught" had there been no lawsuit.

I am actually not sure they were "caught" unless the news of the lawsuit perked-up the watchdog's ears or if UO self-reported.

I spent a few hours talking to Crisshawn during his short time on The Bluff, and it is too bad he did not have the knees to go with his game and his confidence.