A wrongful termination lawsuit brought by the former coach of the College of Charleston baseball team has been reopened after new forensic evidence was discovered which appears to contradict the sworn testimony of the man who fired him.
Judge Richard Gergel ordered the case, which had been settled in October 2018, be restored to the docket after a forensic examination of a cell phone suggested that C of C athletic director Matt Roberts may not have been honest in saying he didn’t communicate with Matthew Heath’s replacement about a job offer before Heath was formally terminated.
Roberts swore in an affidavit that he did not communicate with the team’s new coach, Chad Holbrook, with whom he has a personal friendship, between Jan. 1 and July 1, 2017, about the possibility of replacing Heath. Heath was suspended from the job in June, without pay, before being terminated on June 14 for just cause, meaning the school wouldn’t have to pay the remainder of his five-year contract.
But forensic evidence now shows that Holbrook sent a text message during that time period to his father in which he alluded to a possible job offer from Roberts.
“Don’t say anything but Matt Roberts really want [sic] me to come be his baseball coach at the College of Charleston,” Gergel’s order reads, quoting the text message. “I’m thinking about it strongly. Please don’t say anything.”
The order also granted Heath’s motion to compel further forensic examinations of Roberts’ second hard drive, computer, phone, tablet or other electronic devices and allows examiners to inspect the College of Charleston’s email server for communications between Roberts and Holbrook from the relevant time period.
Heath’s lawsuit was originally filed in July 2017 and claimed that he was wrongfully terminated without being given a hearing before an impartial decision-maker and the school’s decision hurt his reputation.
Heath’s attorneys also filed a motion for sanctions against C of C and Roberts, claiming spoliation of evidence after it was shown that Roberts’ phone automatically deletes messages every 30 days. That motion was filed before the text messages between Holbrook and his father were discovered; Gergel denied the motion in December without prejudice for being premature.
Allan Holmes, Cheryl Ledbetter, Timothy Lewis, and Rebecca Wolfe of Gibbs and Holmes in Charleston represent Heath in the case.
Melissa Biggers, Eugene Matthews and C. Cliff Rollins of Richardson Plowden and Robinson in Columbia represent C of C and Roberts.
Neither side could be reached for comment before press time.
Follow Matt Chaney on Twitter @SCLWChaney