UNB in legal dispute with fired women's volleyball coach

The University of New Brunswick is in a legal dispute with its former women's volleyball coach, Richard Schick, who was fired this fall following complaints and an investigation into alleged discrimination and harassment of team players and staff, according to court documents.

It's not clear what exactly Schick did, since neither party has disclosed those details and no players have responded to requests for comment.

But Schick filed a notice of action in the Court of King's Bench in Fredericton on Dec. 8, claiming breach of contract and wrongful dismissal causing loss and "significant mental distress."

"UNB's actions were unfair, misleading, unduly insensitive and in bad faith," says the document.

Worked with national team

Not long before going to work at UNB, Schick was the full-time assistant coach of the national senior women's team and head coach of Volleyball Canada's National Excellence Program, according to his biography on the UNB website.

"Abruptly terminating Mr. Schick's employment and wrongfully alleging cause for termination … have seriously damaged Mr. Schick's professional reputation and impeded his ability to find new employment," the notice of action says.

Schick's resume also includes being named coach of the year with the men's team at the University of British Columbia in 2003, being part of championship teams as a college and university player and a season of professional play in Germany. He has an education degree from the University of Alberta.

The notice of action details how Schick began a three-year contract as the women's volleyball coach at UNB in May 2021.

Former coach seeks details

He had a salary of almost $88,000, plus benefits and a pension plan.

The notice says his employment was terminated on Oct. 31, 2023, "for actions and behaviours that violated UNB's Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Harassment Policy."

Schick claims that his letter of termination didn't provide enough detail about what he did wrong and that he didn't do anything that would be just cause for firing.

He says he had no warning and no prior disciplinary action.

He's seeking compensation for his lost salary and benefits, as well as other losses, for the period between the end of October and next May, when his contract would have expired, as well as damages, costs and other relief as the court sees fit.

UNB says the damages sought are excessive and not legally owed.

The university filed a statement of defence Dec. 21, denying the allegations, on the grounds that Schick was employed "at the pleasure of the Board of Governors of the University," and asking for the case to be dismissed with costs payable to the university.

"The plaintiff's termination was conducted in a professional and courteous manner," it says.

Six complaints were filed by players in May 2023 alleging Schick had harassed and discriminated against a number of players and staff members over the previous two years, says the statement of defence.

UNB says it appointed a third party, which conducted a comprehensive investigation and issued a report in early September.

"The investigator concluded that the Plaintiff had violated UNB's Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Harassment Policy by his improper actions toward the women on the team," says the statement of defence.

University says coach had chance to respond

It says Schick had "multiple opportunties" to review the investigator's report and had a chance to discuss its contents with the university's vice-president academic in mid-October.

UNB concluded, "based on its review of the investigator's report and subsequent meetings with the complainants and the plaintiff that the plaintiff's actions violated the policy and demonstrated a revelation of character that was incompatible with the discharge of his duties at UNB."

UNB also says any damage to Schick's reputation is his own fault because the university wasn't the one that disclosed the reason for his termination.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Schick's lawyer, Jessica Bungay of the firm Cox and Palmer, said they filed a subsequent legal document Dec. 22, demanding more details about what Schick did wrong.

She declined to comment further as the matter is before the court.

UNB said the same, adding it also has a responsibility to protect the privacy of employees and harassment complainants.

The university did not respond to CBC's request for a copy of the investigator's report and declined to say which parts of its policy had been violated.

Neither did it disclose what level of detail was included in the report Schick was shown, such as names of complainants or descriptions of incidents or whether complainants were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.

CBC News also sent messages to several members of the UNB women's volleyball team seeking comment. No responses were received at publication time.