Business 8th Edition by Marianne Jennings

Exercise 1

Public Relations Issues, Strategy, and the Problem Employee
Former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight had a long history of violent temper eruptions both on and off the court. Nonetheless, he had been a successful coach for the team, often taking Indiana to the NCAA Final Four competition. The flamboyant coach had been known to confront officials during games, throw chairs during games, and use colorful language continually. A videotape captured the coach lunging for the throat of an Indiana University student and player during a practice session.
Coach Knight initially denied that it happened, and then the videotape was produced. The trustees of Indiana University placed the coach on probation and wrote in a letter to him that any violation of the terms of the probation-including no striking of students, no temper eruptions, no foul language- was grounds for termination.
Many fans and alumni were outraged at the agreement and defended keeping the coach in good standing because he never had any NCAA violations (i.e., he ran a "clean" program) and he saw to it that most of his players also graduated from college in addition to playing basketball or being recruited by professional teams.
Write a memo explaining why the trustees took the action they did. Be sure to include discussion of the principles of agency law, potential liability, and the rights of Coach Knight with regard to his employment contract.