Ex-Coach Sues District, Says He Was Deceived

Former Ventura College basketball coach Glen Hefferman has sued the community college district, claiming that officials deceived him when he was hired by failing to mention the team was under investigation for recruiting violations.

Hefferman left a coaching position at another state college last year to take over the once-powerful men’s basketball program, which claimed two state titles in 1995 and 1996.

What he did not know at the time, his lawsuit says, was that the program faced severe sanctions and banishment from post-season play for violating state rules, including providing players with money and free meals.

Two months after Hefferman took the coaching position, the program was slapped with those sanctions and a two-year probation by the Western State Conference.

Hefferman contends he was misled by the district and wrongfully discharged and discriminated against when he left the college after sanctions were imposed.

“The simple fact is, they withheld information from him,” said attorney James J. Armstrong, who filed the lawsuit in Ventura County Superior Court.

Armstrong said his client has been unable to secure another coaching position in the wake of the Ventura College incident, which according to the lawsuit included physical threats by members of the athletic department after Hefferman cried foul.

“He will never be able to get a job as a basketball coach,” Armstrong said. “I don’t think people will touch him because of what happened.”

On Friday, Ventura College Athletic Director Dick James said he was unaware that a lawsuit had been filed by Hefferman. James declined to comment on the allegations contained in the lawsuit.

Chancellor Philip Westin, who along with James and several other administrators are named as defendants in the lawsuit, could not be reached for comment.

But court records show that the district has been aware of Hefferman’s claims for some time.

In January, three months after the basketball program was stripped of its championship titles and placed on probation, Hefferman filed a claim against the district seeking $150,000 in damages.

In the claim, which must be filed before legal action can be taken in state court, Hefferman states that the district and its administrators “fraudulently and deceitfully solicited [him] for employment.”

He further states that if he had known the “correct material facts,” he would not have left his job and moved his family to Ventura County to take the coaching position.

In February, the district responded to Hefferman’s claim, stating that it “was rejected in its entirety.” The response opened the door for Hefferman to file a lawsuit, which he did Aug. 14.

Totaling more than 50 pages, the lawsuit states that Hefferman took the head coach position at Ventura College in August 1997. Five months earlier, the college had terminated the position of coach Virgil Watson amid allegations of rules violations.

As the district launched an internal investigation, officials started looking for a new coach, the lawsuit says. Hefferman, who was head coach at Columbia College in Sonora, accepted the position on or about Aug. 13.

About a month later, the district submitted a report to the Western States Conference for consideration of possible sanctions, according to the lawsuit. That was when Hefferman first learned of the matter, the lawsuit states.

“At this time, the plaintiff was extremely outraged, annoyed, upset and emotionally and mentally distressed that he had not been told all the salient and pertinent facts, and informed the defendants that it was deceitful and fraudulent on their part to have withheld this information from him,” the lawsuit states.

In October, the conference imposed sanctions that Hefferman claims effectively terminated his position. Several basketball players left the program as a result of the two-year probation, which prompted the district to disband the program for the season.

According to the lawsuit, Hefferman was then “wrongfully terminated” from his position at Ventura College after “false, inaccurate and untruthful accusations” were made in order to fire him.

Hefferman also claims in the lawsuit that as the program fell into disarray, athletic directors abused him verbally and threatened him physically.

He is seeking undisclosed damages for lost wages, benefits and medical expenses. Hefferman is also seeking punitive damages that Armstrong said he expects to exceed the $150,000 initially sought in the claim.

Hefferman is not the first to sue the district and its administrators over the program’s collapse.

In March, three former basketball players filed a lawsuit claiming that their reputations were ruined after the conference refused to let them play during the 1997-98 season. The players are also seeking unspecified damages.