Two advance scouts pursue pay disputes with Clippers

Two advance scouts for the Clippers have been locked in a pay dispute with the team.

Jerry Holloway, employed since the 2003-04 season, alleged the Clippers quit paying him this spring and breached his contract. Documents filed June 4 in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County said the Clippers owed Holloway $22,920 in unpaid salary.

After the suit was filed, the Clippers settled with Holloway for $20,000, a source familiar with the situation said. Court papers said Holloway asked for nearly $36,000, which included the unpaid wages, liquidated damages and legal fees.

Another scout, Scott Wissel, alleges he is owed slightly less than Holloway. Wissel, in an interview, said he is considering his legal options.

The Clippers contend the two scouts were “at-will” employees and did not have written contracts.

“It would be wholly inaccurate to suggest that the team did not pay these former at-will employees all compensation due to them throughout their employment,” Clippers legal counsel Robert H. Platt said.

A source familiar with the pay dispute, but not authorized to comment publicly, said the team kept the scouts on the payroll well after Mike Dunleavy stopped coaching the Clippers in early February.

In March, the Clippers fired Dunleavy as general manager and quit paying him. Dunleavy claims he is owed $6.75 million on the remainder of his contract and is pursuing arbitration.

The Clippers filed suit saying Dunleavy defrauded them.

Holloway’s complaint alleged his most recent one-year Clippers contract was renewed in October 2009 and was to run through the end of September.

Michael Goldberg, executive director of the NBA Coaches Assn., said his organization is aware of the pay disputes.

“I’m hoping by urging moral persuasion on the team, through the league, that they’ll see the light of day and do what is correct” for Dunleavy, Goldberg said. “And certainly a lower-paid individual like Scott [Wissel], who is in a very tough situation right now … hopefully will be swept along and come out OK.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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