O'Brien v. Ohio State University Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

O'Brien v. Ohio State University - Assignment Example The researcher states that to be absolved in the eyes of the law, University had to prove that OBriens actions, which were in violation of the contract, in fact, caused severe damage to the reputation of the University. The court found that OBriens act of lending a sum of $6000 to a recruit did not do material damage the university’s reputation. Jim O’Brien won the case and received about $2.5 million in damages. If the judge had interpreted that OBriens actions caused serious harm to the good name of the Ohio State University then they would most certainly have rejected the plaintiff’s claim. For instance, if they had discovered that Jim O’Brien had a history of breaching the University contract, then the court’s decision might have gone the other way. Ohio State had to prove that Jim O’Brien’s actions have caused their name significant bad reputation. However, the Ohio Court of Claims concluded that O’Brien’s actions an d his breach were not material to cause his termination. The weakening aspect of Ohio States case was they relied too much on specific contractual language. They put too much stress on the wording of the contract that OBrien would be breaking the terms of the contract if he breaks NCAA rules. Moreover, he was also supposed to report any breach that could have happened which he was aware of, and he had reasonable cause that a violation, in fact, had occurred. Jim all Brian failed to report this loan for almost five years. The NCAA rules clearly state that the staff member or the institution itself cannot give financial aid or any such benefit to recruits. This decision is a wake-up call for other colleges. It would be wise for the parties to such future agreement to be extra careful in adequately detailing the terms of the agreement, however, the analysis of materiality is a complicated task that hugely depends on the circumstances.