Robert Morris hockey players now represented by lawyer who beat the NCAA in Supreme Court, represented Tom Brady

A coalition of members from the recently eliminated men’s and women’s hockey programs at Robert Morris University is now being represented by Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney perhaps best known in Pittsburgh as Tom Brady’s lawyer in his legal battle against the NFL in “Deflategate.”

Kessler — who has served as counsel for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team along with the NFL and NBA players’ associations — is a partner at the law firm Winston & Strawn. He was the lawyer who led last week’s 9-0 victory in the Supreme Court case against the NCAA.

On Monday morning, Kessler sent a letter to Robert Morris, alerting the university to legal rights the players feel may have been compromised by the elimination of their hockey programs. It was the first of two such letters the university received Monday.

“I’m informing the school that we believe the termination of the teams puts the university at significant legal risk,” Kessler told the Tribune-Review. “We hope how they will proceed is to work together with the coalition to immediately restore the teams so that it won’t be necessary to pursue any further action.”

About five hours after Kessler’s correspondence, Ohio attorney Kevin Spellacy sent a letter to Robert Morris university president Dr. Christopher Howard, informing the university that he is representing a hockey player and RMU student.

Robert Morris officials acknowledged that they received the letters and were reviewing them.

On May 26, with no previous knowledge that the programs were in peril, coaches and players learned from university president Dr. Christopher Howard that both teams were going to be dissolved.

The women’s team won a conference championship and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament this past season. The men were regular-season west pod champions of Atlantic Hockey and had made the league’s championship weekend the previous six seasons.

“While publicly touting the laudable achievements of its hockey teams, privately, the University was apparently preparing to make the student-athletes on these teams the casualties of a covert plan to eliminate their programs,” Kessler wrote in his letter. “This secrecy induced the student-athletes to believe that their teams would continue, and they relied upon this misrepresentation in making their decisions to attend the University in the first place, as well as to remain at the school without seeking a possible transfer.”

Kessler said the most significant claim is that the decision-making process for eliminating the teams was deliberately concealed from the athletes, their families, the coaches and even some members of the board of trustees until “it was revealed as a fait accompli.”

“During that period, when this was actively being planned, students were misled,” Kessler said. “They passed on transfer opportunities. Some decided to come to the school on false pretenses. And this failure to disclose what we call ‘material information’ is unlawful in Pennsylvania.”

One matter players have complained about publicly since the programs’ elimination is the time between when Athletic Director Chris King was told about plans for cutting the programs and when the student-athletes were informed.

During a video call June 1 with players, King said he was informed about the decision to eliminate the programs “about a week after graduation.”

Robert Morris’ graduation weekend was May 6-8. Players weren’t informed of cuts until May 26, the same day the public was informed.

Players could have entered the NCAA transfer portal during that period, and many players renewed housing contracts and made academic plans for the next year during that time.

In terms of recruits, multiple sources within the athletic department confirmed that the men’s team was recruiting a player at 9 a.m. May 26, only to learn a few hours later that the programs were being dissolved.

King is seen on the virtual meeting telling players that some within the athletic department encouraged university officials to inform the players earlier but that their request fell on deaf ears because the university preferred to stick with “a certain PR strategy.”

That timeline may support Kessler’s concern about the decision being a “fait accompli” before the board was presented with plans to erase the programs.

Kessler said another claim the coalition could make is that the university bylaws were not properly followed.

RMU board chair Morgan O’Brien previously told the Trib the discussion to eliminate the teams was part of the board’s annual strategic planning meeting, which occurred online between May 20-21. That’s about two weeks after King said he was told about the elimination of the programs.

‘Several legal causes of action’

Spellacy did not name the player he is representing, other than to say he is from Ohio.

Spellacy has a son, Aidan, who was about to start his fourth year with the program.

“It is my position that a cause of action exists because you surreptitiously planned to eliminate both the men’s and women’s hockey teams for some time without consideration for the student athlete’s well being,” Spellacy wrote in the letter to Howard. “As such, you have deprived my client (along with many others) of the opportunity to continue their Division I competition. Your lack of transparency has only fueled speculation as to why. Regardless, your actions have given rise to several legal causes of action — both in Pennsylvania and Ohio.”

Spellacy is requesting that Robert Morris officials share all correspondence between Howard’s office and the athletic department as well as with the NCAA regarding men’s and women’s ice hockey from the past two years.

His firm is also requesting records of donations to any NCAA team over the last five years and any correspondence specifically regarding “the men’s track team” (Robert Morris reinstated men’s cross country in October 2020) over that same timeframe. Howard was hired as Robert Morris president Feb. 1, 2016.

Spellacy is also asking for Howard’s cellphone records from the past two years, his emails and records of any social media accounts Robert Morris monitors or maintains relating to men’s and women’s hockey.

Spellacy’s client list includes a number of current and former Cleveland Browns.

Athletes won’t back down, Kessler says

Kessler wouldn’t say who specifically would be named in a potential legal case, whether it would be the university or the board as entities or Howard, O’Brien or King as individuals.

“What the law says is that you cannot conceal material information knowing that people are going to rely upon it,” Kessler said. “And here the school — through its coaches, through its admissions office, through its materials — was sending the message to many athletes over the past year that the programs were healthy, that the school was proud of them, that the programs were going to be continued.”

Kessler’s retention could elevate this dispute from a regional story to a national matter.

Kessler was a representative for the student-athletes whose programs were slated to be cut at Stanford University. In that case, Stanford had announced its intention to cut 11 sports, only to reinstate them a few months later under the pressure of two separate lawsuits. One alleged Title IX violations. The other, spearheaded by Kessler, alleged breach of contract over misrepresentation to incoming recruits.

Robert Morris’ Geoff Lawson, a defenseman on the men’s team, and Michaela Boyle, a forward on the women’s team, are two members of the coalition. They have said the group is comprised of about 30 players.

If a lawsuit were to be filed, Kessler said, it would be a civil claim asserting that university officials violated state misrepresentation laws.

“The hope of these athletes, the families and alumni is not to have a lawsuit. It’s to have a resolution,” Kessler said. “But if the university is determined to have a fight, then I don’t see that these athletes and their families are going to back down from a fight.”