The Petke Situation

Does filing this lawsuit decrease Petke's chances of finding work as a paid soccer coach in the USA? I guess that it will decrease his chances.

I like the idea that an employee who suffers abuse from an employer can feel empowered to speak out and does not just have to take it in the hopes of keeping future employment opportunities open.

However, this situation does not seem like RSL organization abused Petke. Perhaps Petke deserves his 2 weeks wages back. Other than that, it seems like RSL is completely justified to let him go for conduct detrimental to the organization.

 

I think Mike is hoping for a settlement knowing that it may be a very long time, if ever, for a team to hire him as their coach. His behavior doesn't really warrant another opportunity any time soon I would imagine.

 

That was part of the original vision and is probably actually written somewhere.

 

The lawsuit has 2 parts: RSL compensation, and damages. A large part of the damages angle is diminished employment opportunities related to the alleged smear campaign. The alleged campaign, of course, was implemented when RSL didn’t outright fire him and then had to wage a public campaign to deflect criticism and sponsor discomfort. Based on what we think we know it seems Petke has a solid chance to win all of the compensation and much of the damages portions of the lawsuit.

 

If Petke lied at all - or even just omitted the breadth of his actions in the tunnel and in going to the dressing room - in conversations about his actions when the two week suspension and contract rider were agreed, then he has no leg to stand on. The hearing when it all came out was the next week.

The part here about DLH being a shitty person or not, and Waibel and Zarkos being unhappy or not, is immaterial to the case. Was a binding commitment made by both parties, in full knowledge of the situation, and then was it broken? That's it. Personally I don't see it. Whether I like DLH or Petke or Waibel or any of the other parties ought not matter.

 

Maybe RSL could say that they did, as per the verbal agreement, allow Petke back as coach and then fired him when he refused to resign. Kind of like Dean Wormer's "double secret probation".



Starring DLH as Dean Wormer and Waibel as Greg Marmalard

 

I think it's safe to say that both DLH and Petke can be described as the south end of a northbound horse at times. It's not a huge surprise that this divorce is turning uglier than it already was.

What's curious to me is the risk Petke is taking. He might get a nice cash settlement out of this. But at what long-term cost? I think he's quite likely deep-sixing whatever chance he still had to coach again with this lawsuit. The dude's still in his early 40s. What are his career plans now?

 

I don't get the impression that people are beating down RSL's door to hire Waibel away. If he didn't get an extension from Dell Loy, he's probably be out of work.

 

I think he might believe that it will be a long time, if ever, that he gets another chance to coach in this league or any really. He probably thinks that for his financial security he needs to get a decent settlement.

I wonder if he could eventually end up on a broadcast team or something along those lines moving forward.

He might be a great fit broadcasting games.

 

He used to be a contributor on SiriusXM FC with Dunny and company.

 

He maybe can get a gig, but the slur is going to follow him and make it difficult. Maybe work as a scout. If this was college football Saban would hire him immediately as an analyst. Does Liberty University have a men’s soccer team?

 

Nothing's ever 100% black and white.

DLH's dollars and subsequent investments have helped stabilize and maintain the franchise.

But if you haven't watched the professional regime installed by Mr. Checketts turn into a bunch of guys in clown shoes, you haven't been watching. This is why I maintain my avatar. Nothing against Jeff, but...it kind of epitomizes things like hiring your soccer-clueless son-in-law as a scout. I still go to games, especially when I get free seats. But I stopped voting with season tickets 3 years ago, and I was a very interested fan.

 

DLH had zero to do with keeping RSL from relocating to St. Louis. He didn't come into the picture until 2009. The rumors of RSL being sold to a businessman to relocate to St. Louis were in the fall of 2006 through early 2007. The stadium was built in 2008, and the deal with Sandy City was done in early 2007. There were a lot of people to credit for that: Governor Huntsman, Mayor Dolan, Dave Checketts, and Jamie Watson (if you believe the lore) were among the most critical. But most certainly, DLH was not on the scene until well after the stadium was built.

After that there was another era of people who contributed mightily to RSL both based on financial and other contributions: Jason Kreis for bringing some quality on the field; Lagerwey for bringing in some quality and compelling players; Bill Manning who at the time revolutionized ticket pricing in the league/ brought in a ton of corporate sponsors/and signed North America's first ever front jersey sponsorship, Kenny Deuchar who Checketts credited with closing the Rio Tinto stadium sponsorship deal, and DLH although let's talk about that.

To say RSL would have left without DLH is not anywhere close to factual. Although it was publicly denied, it's generally accepted that Checketts bringing DLH on board was not out of necessity - it was strategic. Checketts originally intended for his own group of investors to own a majority of the team and to have another ownership group own a significant portion so that SCP Worldwide could pursue other professional franchises with those funds. He originally had Lehman Bros lined up for that, but they suddenly fell into bankruptcy as a result of the burst of the housing bubble/subprime lending fiasco. The word on the street is that SCP Worldwide was lining up a bid to buy the Rams at that time. RSL did not NEED the capital infusion at that time. There were also rumors of Michael Eisner (of Disney) and several others having interest in investing in RSL at the time that DLH stepped in. Not sure how true that was.

The biggest question mark around the need for DLH's money doesn't come until 2013. And that depends on who you believe. There is a Checketts version of how that went down and a DLH version. The Checketts version paints RSL as financially stable, despite some financial challenges to SCP Worldwide investors based on economic events. His version also alleges some underhandedness on the part of DLH. There is also the DLH version in which Checketts was in dire financial straits and couldn't meet the obligations required to support RSL. Either way - if DLH weren't in the picture was that a death sentence? By 2013 RSL had proven as a viable (even a distinguished organization), the league had grown to a much higher profile status, and I think there is a good chance someone else would have/could have stepped in if DLH was not in the picture. Who would that have been? Who knows? Would they have been a better owner? Who knows?

But we are now 6 years removed from the events of 2013. He has financially supported this club, there is no doubt about that, although by all measurements this club is spending consistent with the market size. He did step up to the plate for the Monarchs and for the Academy. It's hard to dispute those contributions. However, he has also benefited from the top-tier success of the club coming into play just after he came on board as an investor, and the continued growth of the league since he joined. But that's what smart investors do. I applaud him for that.

However, money is not everything. As a Yankees fan, this season withstanding, I often see the Yankees at the top of MLB in spending, but that doesn't always translate to on field success. Likewise for the Cowboys in the NFL. RSL is here, will be here for the future and yes DLH has had a decent part to play in that, but how positive have his contributions been to support on-field success? And what part has he had to play in the fact that in 2010-2013 this was considered a model organization and now is a bit of a joke for those who have paid attention to some moves he has made or know even a small amount about some of this clubs FO inner workings?

 

He had proven in New York that he was injury prone and washed up, and he came in making $300K at a time when that was a lot of money. IIRC, he was the 3rd highest player on the team. Not the worst decision in the world in the big scheme of things, but a head scratcher - and the fact that DLH gushed that he made it happen because he always liked watching Olave play and jumped at the opportunity when he became available makes me cringe. Acquiring a player because an owner has a man crush is usually ALWAYS a bad idea.

Fortunately Olave has proven some value to the organization in another capacity.

 

This is more or less what I was thinking. His record as a coach isn't great, and the slur makes him politically toxic in the short term. But, there could be a way back from that if he's willing to be patient and start back up in some quiet corner of the soccer pyramid.

But now, he's taking on strike three - an overt willingness to air all of his employer's dirty laundry in the messiest possible way when things turn against him.

I think this effectively ends his career in professional soccer. The closest he'll ever get now is if he gets around to directing a development academy somewhere down the line. The world can always use another John Ellinger...

 

Is it sad that I'm fascinated by his lawsuit and cant wait to see it play out? There are some assertions made here that are certainly controversial. However, the compelling part of the argument is the amended contract and some of the commentary provided by Waibel who as GM is clearly an agent of the corporation.

Utah is a notorious right to work state, but across the country sentiment has moved strongly in favor of the employee in many of these situations

I'm not a lawyer, but it feels like this one could get wild. <but will probably get settled quickly>

 

I’ve seen the old “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” phenomenon too often to think the lawsuit kills his career. He knows a lot of people in the sport. Someone will do him a solid. As, you say, it will be in a non-spotlighted role.

 

Per Petke, his lawyers, and surprised RLS players, he had to sign a "no more problems" extension to his contract after the incident, with the understanding that he would be returning after he paid his fine, went to anger management, and had unpaid leave.

Petke (and Waibel and Zarkos) claim that for DLH to sign this kind of agreement with Petke, and then tell Royals fan that the matter was still up in the air goes against the previously-agreed-upon arrangement.

Beckerman: "I heard the news when the rest of everyone heard the news last night. I was a little surprised. I thought it was a settled matter."

 

My guess on what happened.

1. The P word incident
2. MLS punishment
3. RSL punishment
4. RSL decides to give Mike one last chance, says he can remain coach if he serves out the punishment. They make and sign the amendment to his contract stating such.
5. Sponsors then threaten to pull out if Mike stays.
6. RSL decides to fire Mike instead of risking the sponsors.

I really do think they were planning on giving him one last chance which is why they made the amendment and then later on the sponsors threatening to back out put them between a rock and a hard place, mainly due to timing. If they had waited to make this amendment after he served out the suspension then this could have been avoided. But it seems like the sponsor trouble surfaced after they had already told Mike he could come back after the suspension. I believe this mostly because DLH candidly mentioned the sponsors to Mike's wife at Target, which was obviously after the amendment was signed.

If this is true I get why RSL fired Mike, and I get why Mike feels slighted. A settlement seems like the fairest outcome.

 

I dunno, I could see this one getting dragged out for a long time. I'd imagine Petke and/or his lawyers asked Hansen if he'd settle before they filed their court action. Dell Loy seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't mind spending a million so he didn't have to pay $750,000, if his nose is out of joint. And Petke seems to have quite the bevy of legal folks behind him, so they're likely telling him to push for everything he can get.