PULLMAN, Wash. — A Whitman County judge Tuesday ruled in favor of Washington State University (WSU) and Oregon State University (OSU), declaring the two universities as the only two governing board members of the PAC-12 conference.
In issuing his ruling, Judge Gary Libey said conduct speaks louder than words.
"This court finds in favor of that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their interpretation of the bylaws," the judge said. "The parties prior course of conduct uniformly supports the plaintiffs."
Eric MacMichael, an attorney representing OSU and speaking on behalf of co-plaintiff WSU, said the Pac-12 bylaws explicitly said issuing notice of withdrawal prior to August 1, 2024 meant immediate removal from the conference governing board and decision-making.
MacMichael said evidence showed that, for 13 months, the bylaws were consistently applied to USC and UCLA, the first schools to announce they were transferring to other conferences after the current media rights deal ends next summer. USC and UCLA were immediately removed from the board and, the attorney notes, there was discussion among the Pac 12 schools of penalties for the two universities because of the early notice.
MacMichael said none of the remaining 10 schools disagreed until the University of Washington (UW) later announced it would leave after August 2024.
"Parties are not allowed to just blatantly flip-flop on the meanings of contractual obligations just so they can have their cake and eat it too," MacMichael said.
The attorney for the Pac 12 and its commissioner argued the temporary restraining order, issued by Judge Libey in September, could be altered to allow for the conference and all members to continue making business decisions and maintain the "status quo."
Mark Lambert said since the restraining order, with permission from the judge, unanimous board approval allowed the conference to approve decisions for the present like an employee retention plan. He argued they should be allowed to continue to do so for all current business while the dispute resolution continues, warning to grant a preliminary injunction could throw the conference into "chaos."
Daniel Levin, an attorney representing UW, said there was also concern WSU/OSU may want to take all PAC-12 revenue for themselves to entice Mountain West schools to join the crumbling conference.
However, MacMichael argued no decisions have been made on how revenue will be distributed and the two remaining schools have no agenda.
As part of his ruling, Judge Libey said the other ten schools must be treated fairly. He included provisions that the conference can continue with normal business and any future meetings must be noticed three days ahead to all 10 departing members; WSU and OSU must invite the ten schools to meetings, but departing members cannot vote or make decisions.
WSU president Kirk Schulz said he wasn't sure what Tuesday's hearing would bring, but was pleased by the outcome and ready to move forward on plotting a path for the future of the conference.
"We still have to work on what our football schedule looks like and what our conference partnership or alignment might look like and I think over the next week or two that's really gotta be the focus," Schulz said.
The attorneys for the defendants said they plan to appeal.
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