Judge stays arbitrator’s decision; former coach will not
immediately return
By Ana Patejdl and Heather Bremner, Staff Writers
Gilroy – A former Gavilan College softball coach will not immediately return to the college as a probationary employee, after a superior court judge overturned an arbitrator’s decision.
In January, Arbitrator Kathleen Kelly decided that Tim Kenworthy should return to the college on a probationary basis, and that Gavilan should be on the hook for all back-pay and benefits he had lost since he was not granted tenure in March of 2005.
“The district made a negative decision regarding tenure of Tim Kenworthy that violated, misinterpreted and misapplied the district’s policies and procedures,” Kelly wrote in her Jan. 17 decision.
But Gavilan officials appealed the decision to the Santa Clara County Superior Court of California. On Feb. 9 Judge Joseph Huber stayed the arbitrator’s decision and set a hearing date for March 31.
Kenworthy first landed a job at Gavilan during the 2001-2002 school year with the hopes of building a strong women’s softball team. He was hired as the softball coach and physical education teacher, bringing 25 years of high school and community college coaching experience to Gavilan, according to court documents.
The year before Kenworthy arrived, Gavilan had failed to field a softball team due to lack of interest. The contract stipulated that he would be up for review and possible tenure during his fourth year of employment.
According to the court documents, Kenworthy’s first three evaluations from Gavilan Athletic Director Ron Hannon were positive. The evaluations went downhill after the two butted heads on issues such as the condition of the women’s sports facilities and Hannon’s decision to cancel the softball season because there weren’t enough players.
Court documents state that Kenworthy’s final evaluation was “negative and gave an overall evaluation of ‘unsatisfactory.'”
Kenworthy did not return calls and Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella said he couldn’t comment on the case because it’s still ongoing.
But he did say that even if the courts conclude that Gavilan has to rehire Kenworthy, the board will still decide whether he receives tenure.
“The only thing that can happen is the board can reconsider its position,” he said.
Recently, the Gavilan board of trustees granted two more full-time coaching positions for baseball and softball for the 2007 season. Currently, the only full-time coaching position at Gavilan is football.
According to Hannon, current baseball coach Neal Andrade will have to re-apply for the full-time head coaching position. A listing for the baseball opening was posted on Gavilan’s Web site in late January. The college will be accepting applicants through the first week of March.
“We don’t automatically say, ‘You’re full-time,'” said Hannon. “There’s no guarantee he’ll get that job.”
First-year head softball coach Nikki Dequin, who was hired last summer to succeed Kenworthy, is also part-time and the timeline for hiring a full-time softball coach is up in the air.
“Because of the Kenworthy situation, the (full-time) softball position has been put on hold until that’s resolved,” Hannon said.
