The LA Clippers say a former power and conditioning coach requested for thousands and thousands of {dollars} from the group earlier than submitting his wrongful termination lawsuit in October and making tampering claims involving Kawhi Leonard, in accordance with a courtroom submitting obtained by ESPN.
After they refused to pay Randy Shelton, who was fired by the group final summer time, he sued the Clippers and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, saying he was punished for expressing issues in regards to the administration of Leonard’s accidents.
In the submitting Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Clippers requested that the dispute be settled by arbitration, as per the phrases of the employment contract Shelton signed in November 2021.
After his termination in July 2023, the Clippers say they paid Shelton’s wage via the tip of his contract in June 2024.
“That ought to have been the tip of the matter,” the Clippers mentioned of their response. “But [Shelton] misperceived himself as a crusader and needed consideration. After cashing the final of the Clippers’ checks, he demanded that the Clippers pay him thousands and thousands of {dollars} for the imagined wrongs asserted in his grievance. When the group refused, he sued.”
Shelton joined the Clippers’ efficiency group after serving in the same function at San Diego State, the place he labored with Leonard earlier than the ahead was chosen by the San Antonio Spurs within the 2011 NBA draft.
In his lawsuit, Shelton alleged that he was employed as a part of a yearslong recruiting marketing campaign to lure Leonard and mentioned the Clippers “leapt properly past the bounds of the NBA structure” with respect to potential tampering violations. Shelton additionally alleged that the group’s “mishandling of Kawhi Leonard’s harm and return-to-play protocol has been mind-blowing” and that “the disregard for his restoration course of is unacceptable.” Shelton mentioned the Clippers positioned extra of an emphasis on Leonard’s productiveness than his restoration.
Attorneys representing the Clippers wrote that it was essential to “appropriate the file” towards Shelton’s claims, which included that the group offered “unlawful therapy” to Leonard.
“[Shelton’s] claims are frivolous: There was no ‘tampering’ earlier than the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard,” the group’s response states. “The Clippers didn’t present ‘unlawful therapy’ to Mr. Leonard. And [Shelton] was not terminated in ‘retaliation’ for something. The Court shouldn’t be fooled.”
Shelton mentioned his function inside the group, after voicing issues about how Leonard’s accidents had been being handled, was diminished, that he was excluded from conferences and that details about Leonard’s well being was withheld from him.
“”[Randy Shelton’s] claims are frivolous: There was no ‘tampering’ earlier than the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers didn’t present ‘unlawful therapy’ to Mr. Leonard. And [Shelton] was not terminated in ‘retaliation’ for something. The Court shouldn’t be fooled.”
Clippers response to lawsuit by former staffer
The Clippers say, in response, that Shelton did not carry out the duties of his function.
“[Shelton] took it upon himself to render recommendation to those that had not sought it and that he was not certified to provide,” the group mentioned. “For instance, he advisable medical procedures, comparable to blood-flow restriction, with out having any medical coaching, realizing the gamers’ situation, or consulting together with his supervisors or the group docs. His unauthorized conduct disrupted relationships between the gamers, their trainers, and the group, and put the gamers’ well being and well-being in danger.”
The Clippers mentioned Shelton admitted to “creating drama” by approaching gamers with out realizing their medical histories.
While he was nonetheless being paid by the franchise, Shelton used his former affiliation with the group to start out a bodily remedy enterprise, the Clippers mentioned, including that he did not have the fitting to proceed being paid by them whereas additionally charging others in his new enterprise. The Clippers argue that Shelton owes them the 1000’s of {dollars} he acquired after he was fired.
Anthony Nguyen, one of many legal professionals representing Shelton, mentioned the Clippers had been making an attempt to cover their points by shifting the case to arbitration.
“In demanding that this dispute be settled by arbitration, the Clippers are trying to brush the organizational issues highlighted by our shopper beneath the rug by taking the case out of the general public eye and right into a discussion board that precludes entry for all to see,” Nguyen mentioned.
“We will in fact struggle their try to take action as we consider everybody ought to have entry to the problems uncovered on this case, and discover it questionable that the Clippers, regardless of arguing that our shopper’s claims are supposedly frivolous, need to stop public entry to the litigation of this case,” he mentioned. “We consider that this matter shouldn’t be hidden from the general public nor from followers.”
