Former coach sues VU

Women's golf head, now at Texas, claims Vanderbilt owes her almost $100,000

Email | Print By Glenna DeRoy

Richards

A former Vanderbilt coach has sued the university for about $90,000 she says she's owed under an employment contract terminated last year.

Martha Richards, former women's golf coach, left Nashville and returned to the University of Texas last summer after she and the university were not able to reach a new contract agreement. Richards had spent three years as a Texas assistant coach before she came to Vanderbilt in 2000.

She claims Vanderbilt owes her wages that were deferred under a provision contained in her 2004 contract extension, according to the suit filed last week in U.S. District Court. (Download the document here.) Companies often put off payment for tax purposes and agree to compensate the employee at a particular date, said Kevin Sharp, the lawyer with Drescher & Sharp who will represent her.

The money was to be paid by the end of last July if the two sides could not agree to a new contract, according to the suit. Richards claims she asked for the money before the end of June.

The university told her she would not receive it, in an action the suit calls "arbitrary, illegal, capricious, unreasonable (and) discriminatory."

But the university believes she should not be allowed to collect the funds, said John Callison, the in-house Vanderbilt attorney on the case. Callison said Richards had to remain employed at Vanderbilt until June 30 to get the money, but she became head coach at Texas on June 12.

"In a deferred compensation matter, you either meet the terms or you don't," he said.

The suit details the benefits of Richards' tenure as coach, noting that the program rose to a No. 4 ranking from 60th under her leadership. She also led three squads to the NCAA Championship finals and was honored as the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004.

These details were also highlighted in her bio page on the university sports media Web site, VUCommodores.com.

"As a teacher, motivator and mentor she has shown a veteran's touch of someone that has seen virtually every situation and can draw from her wealth of experience for the good of the individual and the program," the site read. "The result after six years in Nashville is a Commodore program that's widely considered to be on the move."