Ohio University football coach Brian Smith has filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination after being fired for an affair with a student. The lawsuit claims the university breached his employment contract and seeks damages equivalent to his remaining salary.
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Fired Ohio University football coach Brian Smith has sued the school for wrongful termination.
Smith was fired in December after the university said he admitted to having an affair with an undergraduate student. He filed the lawsuit May 8 in the Ohio Court of Claims, accusing the university of breaching his employment agreement. The complaint alleges that the university rushed to judgment, failed to conduct a meaningful investigation and ignored contractual protections, according to a press release from the law firm representing Smith.
The lawsuit seeks damages equal to the remainder of Smith's terminated contract at OU along with interest and attorneys fees.
Smith's base salary was $615,000, with $135,000 in supplemental income and a twice-a-year bonus of $50,000 for every year he would be employed, according to his contract. If Smith had been fired without cause, his contract would have required Ohio University to pay his salary through 2029.
Head coach Brian Smith of the Ohio Bobcats arrives at Ohio Stadium prior to the game again against the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 13, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
“This case is about accountability," Smith's attorney Rex Elliott said in a press release. "OU’s actions have irreparably harmed Coach Smith’s coaching career, and he is owed the full balance of his contractually agreed-upon compensation.”
The Dispatch reached out to OU for comment on Smith's lawsuit.
The university terminated Smith's contract on Dec. 17 for what it described as "with cause." Smith had been placed on leave Dec. 1, and vowed to fight his termination after just one season leading the Bobcats.
In a letter dated Dec. 12 to Smith, OU President Lori Stewart Gonzalez accused him of carrying on the relationship with the student on campus at the Ohio University Inn. In the letter, the university president also wrote that Smith participated in a public appearance where he smelled strongly of alcohol and appeared intoxicated.
Brian Smith was terminated for admitting to having an affair with an undergraduate student.
Smith is seeking damages equal to the remainder of his terminated contract, along with interest and attorney's fees.
Brian Smith's base salary was $615,000, with additional income and bonuses potentially increasing his total compensation.
The lawsuit alleges that Ohio University rushed to judgment and failed to conduct a meaningful investigation into the circumstances of his termination.
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Smith was reprimanded weeks before his December firing for violating its alcohol policy, records show.
Smith told Athletic Director Slade Larscheid and Suzanne Durst, OU director of employee experience, that he stored alcohol in his office desk drawer and that assistant coaches would occasionally join him for a single drink of bourbon in his office after games, according to a Nov. 24 letter from his personnel file. All of the assistants were over the age of 21, and Smith told administrators that the alcohol never impacted his job performance.
In a response to the president's letter, Elliott wrote Dec. 16 that Smith and his now-ex-wife had already separated and divorce proceedings were underway by the time the coach was in a relationship with an OU student. Smith dated the student for four months and didn't know she was a student when he met her at an establishment in Athens, according to his attorney's letter.
Elliott's response letter said Smith was living at the Ohio University Inn while searching for a place to live because of his divorce.
The student was not a member of the athletic department and the coach ended the relationship in early November, the letter stated. Elliott wrote that the relationship was between consenting adults and that Ohio University has no policy prohibiting an employee from dating a student.
Elliot also wrote that such relationships have occurred in the past between OU workers and students and they have not resulted in any previous employee being terminated "for cause."
Dispatch investigative reporter Max Filby can be reached by email at mfilby@dispatch.com. Find him on X at the handle @MaxFilby or on Facebook at @ReporterMaxFilby.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio University's former football coach sues for wrongful termination