Morrison Sues USC, Claiming He Was Fired in Breach of Contract

Stan Morrison, USC’s former basketball coach, filed a $3.6-million lawsuit Tuesday against the university, saying it breached his contract when it fired him last year.

In his Superior Court lawsuit, Morrison says that in 1979 he agreed to a three-year written contract that could be renewed after the three years on a yearly basis and that stated he only could be terminated if he became physically or mentally incapable of performing his job for six months.

Morrison claims that in 1984 he made an oral agreement with former Athletic Director Dick Perry in which he was hired for another three years and then would automatically be rehired one year at a time after that.

Morrison says that last March he was fired by Athletic Director Mike McGee without cause or warning and in violation of his contract. He says his three-year agreement with Perry had not expired.

The termination, he says, cost him the income he received from television and radio appearances, television commercials, shoe endorsements and his coaching posi tion. He says it also cost him the use of university cars and gas credit cards.

Morrison also accuses McGee of maliciously interfering with his job for his personal gain. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Amy Rice, seeks $1.1 million in general damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

Although Morrison has privately told reporters that he was fired by McGee at end of the 1985-86 season, he had said at a press conference at USC when announcing the move that he was resigning to become an associate athletic director at the school.

At the time, he did not say he had been fired.

Morrison remained as an associate athletic director until last summer, when he left USC to become athletic director at UC Santa Barbara.

A USC spokesman said the school did not have any comment because it was not aware of the lawsuit, nor had it been served with any papers late Tuesday afternoon.

Morrison, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, was USC’s basketball coach from 1980 through 1986, compiling a record of 103 wins and 95 losses. His 1984-85 team was co-champion of the Pacific 10, but last season’s team finished last in the conference with a 5-13 record, 11-17 overall.

Attorney Leonard Armato, representing Morrison last December, said that McGee fired Morrison even though two years remained on the coach’s contract.

“At the time (March 11),” Armato said, “McGee encouraged Morrison to state publicly he was resigning, as opposed to being fired, in order to avoid public turmoil for the university and to create a more favorable environment for Morrison’s coaching replacement (George Raveling).”

Even though Morrison said he was resigning as coach last March, it was conjectured by The Times and other newspapers that he was forced to resign.