A few lawyers have written us. So I can spend some time with the family I'm just going to paste their emails here together. Here we go:
Lawyer #1
1. A caveat: it’s always dangerous to comment on a breach of contract dispute, without having read through all the terms of the contract. Oops, excuse me, “term sheet.” Just like it’s hard to comment on the outcome of a trial unless you have watched the entire trial.
2. That being said, firing someone (Logan) ostensibly for cause, and then saying, “Oh yeah, after the fact we discovered all this additional stuff” . . . . . that certainly won’t fly as far as the USATF’s initial motion to dismiss Logan’s countersuit. It doesn’t mean that the USATF can’t ultimately prevail (i.e., prove that they had cause to fire him and that they did so appropriately) (not that I’m saying they will win, but it could happen) - rather the issue for the court right now is whether Logan’s countersuit should be summarily dismissed by the judge (that appears to be the posture of the case right now). And I think they’ll lose.
3. These cases very rarely go to trial. They typically settle. In the same sense that Edwin Moses typically won the races he entered.
4. There’s always a lot of posturing in these court filings. The allegation re: money to female athlete seems amazingly thin. You’d think that if they had more, they would have said more.
Just one lawyer’s opinion.
I am a California real estate attorney but have enough experience with employment law to say that USATF is going to lose big time unless there is more than what I have seen so far.
The argument that his failure to follow their direction constitutes a failure to perform his duties and is therefore just cause for termination is absurd.
Cal lawyer
I should have mentioned in my earlier email that generally you can not use what you later discover as a basis to justify prior action. In other words, USATF can not use the fact that they now know that Logan did not pay Indiana income tax to justify the prior termination.
Cal lawyer
From a CPA
A taxpayer working IN a state ALWAYS pays tax in that state. Florida residency is irrelevant. You may be able to apportion wages based on actual time spent in Indiana working and time spent working outside Indiana. But you are NOT totally exempt from Indiana tax just because you claim Florida residency.