WNYO, Oswego State’s student-run radio station, was sued in the Student Association (S.A.) Supreme Court by current sports announcer Scott Glickman. Glickman argued that WNYO’s current Sports Director, Matt Solomon, was hired through practices that went against the organization’s constitution.
WNYO admitted to hiring an applicant who applied after the March 30, 2009 deadline that was stated in the WNYO 2008-2009 constitution. However, all applicants for the sports director position applied after the deadline. According to their constitution, the general manager and the executive board could terminate the position or fill it in a process that they saw fit, but only if there were no other applicants before March 30.
"I was here tonight to right a wrong," Glickman said after the trial.
The WNYO defense team attempted to dismiss the case, citing the guidelines in their constitution.
"They used readily available resources of late applying applications and gave them the benefit, even though they didn’t apply on the deadline, to be interviewed," said Alicia O’Grady, one of WNYO’s attorneys.
"I want to do this now so that they don’t continue this further and further so that the next guy and the next guy and the next guy get screwed out of a job," Glickman said.
Adam King, Glickman’s attorney, said that the way Solomon was hired violated WNYO’s ‘08-‘09 constitution.
King contended the process itself was unfair.
"I’m not angry at any one individual," Glickman said. "I’m angry at an organization’s decision to not follow rules that they wrote themselves."
"I’d like to see every general member vote for somebody because I feel like every member within an organization has an equal say, because everybody is of the organization and they give equally to it," King said.
King also called for dismissing Solomon and restarting the application process for sports director.
The S.A. Supreme Court is required to hear every case that is brought before then by a student, said Stefen Short, S.A. Vice President.
Solomon was then questioned by King and admitted to applying for the position after the deadline. S.A. Chief Justice Scott Silver dismissed the trial on the grounds that nobody had applied before the March 30 deadline.
The dismissal of the case led to a moment of confusion because the case wasn’t dismissed in the proper time frame. Silver admits that he should have dismissed the case after opening statements. The ruling stated that the case never existed, WNYO’s General Manager Justin Laird said. As a result, WNYO will be able to continue their operation without alterations.
An important outcome of this trial was whether it would affect other organizations within S.A.
"As for WNYO, it basically vindicates our constitution," Laird said. "It really is empowering to the e-board knowing that S.A. is not going to step in and micro-manage our organization. WNYO won’t be held responsible for someone else’s interpretation of their constitution."
Short said that he foresees other organizations learning to follow all of their deadlines so that another situation like this doesn’t happen again.
Members from S.A., WNYO’s e-board and Glickman discussed the future of the trial after the dimissal. S.A. is obligated to hear every case submitted, which, theoretically, means that Glickman could keep suing WNYO for the hiring of Solomon. However, Glickman indicated that he would not resubmit this trial.
Solomon and Glickman will continue to hold their current roles with WNYO.
"It’s not personal," Glickman said. "An organization made a decision. They were supposed to file A, B and C. They filed A, skipped B and went to C."
