Former USC football coach Steve Sarkisian files suit against school

Steve Sarkisian had a rough end to his tenure as the USC Trojans football coach. Now he’s looking for some financial restitution for what he went through.

Steve Sarkisian, the former head football coach at the University of Southern California, has filed suit against USC after being terminated in October.

TMZ is reporting that Sarkisian is looking for $30 million in damages from his dismissal earlier this fall. The former coach is claiming that the school should have considered his alcoholism a disability and sought to provide him with help rather than terminate him on October 12th. As such, Sarkisian is claiming that USC is in breach of contract, failure to accommodate, discrimination on the basis of disability, and more.

The firing all stemmed from an incident on October 11th when Sarkisian missed the team’s scheduled practice. He showed up at the team facility impaired and was asked to leave immediately. The school initially put him on a leave of absence and ordered him to seek help. However, it dismissed him later that week and replaced him with Clay Helton for the remainder of the season.

Sarkisian was due $12.6 million under the terms of his contract before having it terminated by USC. He is also looking for damages payable for what he and his family had to go through due to his firing and the public way the dismissal played out.

At question is how much USC knew about and whether alcoholism is covered under California’s disability act. Sarkisian is claiming the school knew he needed help, even prompting him to sign a letter stating he would seek counseling immediately after an event in August.

Undoubtedly, this will settle out of court in some capacity. In the meantime, Sarkisian will look to show he is sober and will attempt to find another coaching position in the near future.

(h/t TMZ)