Legal News

Duke Lawyers Fire Back at Andrew Giuliani, Move to Dismiss Golf Suit

By Dan Slater

Andrew Giuliani speaks with Tiger Woods at the Westchester Country Club during the 2001 Buick Classic. Woods played with Andrew during the Pro-Am tournament. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

What is it with Duke sports and the law? First lacrosse, then football. Now we’re embarking on the legal saga of Andrew Giuliani, who sued Duke in July, alleging that he’d been improperly dismissed from the golf team.

Now, the Duke Chronicle reports that Donald Cowan and Jim Cooney — the attorneys for the University and head golf coach O.D. Vincent — have filed an answer and a motion for judgment on the pleadings. From the looks of it, they’re playing the privilege card.

“Andrew Giuliani is entitled to no more privileges than any other member of the Duke University student body,” the motion says. “Like every other member of the student body, Andrew Giuliani is responsible for both his actions and their consequences.”

The response, reports the Chronicle, says Giuliani’s conduct — including breaking a club, “gunning” the engine of his car, throwing an apple at the face of former teammate and being disrespectful to a trainer — would have merited a dismissal, which was unrelated to his golfing ability. Team members did not take opportunities to vouch for Giuliani, and the response notes that five of six players specifically recommended that Giuliani’s membership be “terminated.”

Giuliani’s mother, Donna Hanover, told The Chronicle that the family had exhausted all avenues to communicate their grievances. But Duke’s filing says that Giuliani, his parents and counsel “repeatedly sought to avoid [and] … to maneuver around” Duke’s codified three-step review process.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 11, 2008 (boomark / email).