Almost two years since his dismissal from atop the Washington State football program as he exercised his right to avoid taking the state- and school-mandated COVID-19 vaccine, Nick Rolovich revealed Wednesday that he is “pleased” with the latest development in his ongoing lawsuit against WSU and school officials – though a Federal judge dismissed portions of Rolovich’s lawsuit but ruled the overall claim could move forward through the courts.
Midway through the 2021 college football season, Wazzu AD Pat Chun dismissed Rolovich and four Cougars’ assistant coaches after their requests for exemption to the vaccine were denied.
At the time, Rolovich that he had received an exemption and that an extra layer of the process resulted in the school’s denial of his request and his ultimate termination.
Per Rolovich’s attorney, Brian Fahling, the latest developments – most significantly the lawsuit’s portion that targeted Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Chun – halt those individual elements of the lawsuit but allow Rolovich to continue to pursue his wrongful termination case against WSU.
Fahling also emphasized that Rolovich will further examine the situation to see if they wish to appeal and continue to seek to directly implicate Chun in the lawsuit.
“We had agreed to all dismissals, with the exception of the individual capacity claim against Chun. The Remaining claims, breach of contract/breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrongful withholding of wages, Title VII and WLAD against WSU have, from the very beginning, been the very heart of the lawsuit and the damages that Mr. Rolovich have suffered will be established through those very claims – nothing has changed.”
Rolovich was hired at Wazzu prior to the 2020 season, after he had guided his alma mater, Hawaii, to 18 wins combined in the 2018-19 seasons – a remarkable resurgence for a Hawaii program that had teetered on the brink.
But the COVID-19 pandemic descended upon the world and forever altered Rolovich’s path atop the Cougars’ program; his first season was part of the Pac-12’s truncated half-season of play that only happened after other Power 5 conferences elected to proceed with their seasons.
Rolovich then had the Cougars off to an 4-3 start – winners of three-straight contests – when he and his assistants were fired for their non-compliance to the state’s vaccine mandate.
At the time of his dismissal, Rolovich earned approximately $3 million per year from his contract with Washington State, and he had more than three years remaining on the pact.
The full statement from Rolovich’s attorney is below: