Fired for cause: What that means after Michigan terminates Sherrone Moore

The college football world was stunned to learn that Michigan fired head coach Sherrone Moore for cause. What does that mean?

Sherrone Moore is out at Michigan, with cause. What does that term mean when it comes to college football coaches being fired? | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The college football world was shocked to hear that Michigan had fired head coach Sherrone Moore suddenly after the end of the regular season, and even more surprised to hear that the school terminated him with cause.

Usually when coaches are relieved of their positions, it has to do with losing football games on the field, but other times, coaches can get the sack for something their schools believe they did away from the field, something bad enough to get rid of them entirely.

What exactly does it mean to be fired for cause in this context? Let’s take a look at what schools mean when they get rid of a coach for cause, and why it’s so serious.

Fired ‘for cause’: What does it mean?

Simply put, any employee can be fired from their job either “for cause” or “without cause.”

In the first case, firing an employee for cause means the employee is believed to have committed a serious violation of some kind against their employer.

Those violations can range anywhere from violating their agreement, going against employer procedures, or any kind of violation of human resources policies.

Theft, sexual harassment, and lying are also examples of infractions that are used as “for cause” grounds for termination of an employee.

Conversely, when someone is let go “without cause,” it implies the employee did not do anything wrong or they simply deserved being fired due to a decline in performance, for example.

Lawyers will get involved

As may be expected, firing someone for cause often carries significant legal implications.

For example, an employee may not have to pay the fired employee a buyout amount under such conditions, or the employee may have to forfeit pay and bonus money.

Exactly what Michigan may owe, or not owe, Moore will likely be a sticking point between his lawyer and the school in the near future as a result.

What Michigan said

“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement.

“Following a University investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”

Manuel added: “This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

What the contract said

Public decency and morality appear to be the defining points as to why Michigan fired Moore, judging by its statement, and the language in their contract.

According to the contract Moore signed with Michigan, the school has the right to fire him if “Conduct by the Head Coach with offense against public decency or morality, as shall be determined by standards prevailing in the community or which results in, or in the reasonable determination of the University could result in, material injury to the reputation, interests, or obligations of the University or the Program.”

That is clearly a judgment that Michigan has made against its now-former head coach in a decision that will once again bring some more chaos to the college football coaching carousel.

And leaves plenty of questions to be answered about what exactly Michigan thought was happening, and why it was serious enough to pull the plug on their coach.