The trial date for the final remaining count in former Auburn baseball coach Sunny Golloway's wrongful termination lawsuit against Auburn's Board of Trustees and multiple athletics administrators was rescheduled Monday.
According to court documents, Golloway's trial is set for the court term beginning Oct. 15, 2018. In documents filed earlier this month, the trial -- which is expected to last four days -- was previously scheduled for next June, though an exact date was left blank.
Golloway was fired with cause as Auburn's baseball coach on Sept. 27, 2015 after just two seasons on the Plains. The university cited 11 violations of the terms of Golloway's contract as just cause for his dismissal, and Golloway categorically denied all of them during a 75-minute press conference at his Birmingham-base attorney's office on Nov. 2, 2015.
By firing Golloway with cause, Auburn saved itself from paying the coach the remaining $1.25 million owed to him under the terms of his contract. When athletics director Jay Jacobs informed Golloway he was being fired, the coach asked if the school was going to honor the remainder of the money due under contract. Jacobs reportedly and infamously replied, "I don't plan on giving you a dime, brother."
In May 2016, Golloway filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Auburn's Board of Trustees, Jacobs, former Auburn athletics chief operating officer and current UConn athletics director David Benedict, senior associate athletics director Rich McGlynn, former director of baseball operations Scott Duval and athletics administrator Jeremy Roberts.
A federal judge dismissed all but one of the charges brought forth by Golloway back in April. The lone remaining claim is of "intentional interference of contractual relations," and according to court documents filed in September, that claim was not dismissed because Alabama courts have set precedent that "a coworker acts outside his authority and with malice when he repeatedly spreads fabrications or otherwise maneuvers to get a plaintiff fired."
An on-the-record pre-trail conference is set for Aug, 21, 2018 at the Frank M. Johnson United States Courthouse Complex in Montgomery. All dispositive motions are scheduled to be filed by Feb. 22, 2018, while a settlement conference in which both sides are expected to "engage in good faith settlement negotiations" is set for no later than Jan. 23, 2018 - the same date that cutoff for discovery is set.
Expert witness disclosures for Golloway are due by Nov. 23, while the defendants have until Dec. 21. Trial witness lists, disposition designations and trial exhibits are all due by Aug. 31, 2018.
Golloway is being represented by Birmingham-based attorney John Saxon, while Auburn has retained the services of the Birmingham-based law firm Lightfoot, Franklin and White - the same firm that has been hired three times in recent months by the university to review matters related to softball, men's basketball and football.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.