Todd Hewitt sues the Rams

[Angry Ram]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... imination/

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 31, 2012, 11:36 AM EDT

When we wrote last year about the Rams firing equipment manager Todd Hewitt, we heard from a lot of fans who thought the team had treated a longtime employee badly. Now Hewitt is taking the Rams to court, saying they didn’t just treat him badly, they also fired him illegally.

Hewitt, who started working in the Los Angeles Rams’ equipment department as an 11-year-old assistant to his father in 1967, sued the Rams in St. Louis County Court, alleging age discrimination, and he accuses former Rams head coach (and current Saints defensive coordinator) Steve Spagnuolo of specifically targeting him because of his age.

“During the time that Mr. Spagnuolo was the head coach for the Rams, he made statements to Mr. Hewitt about his age, including in 2009, when he told him he was too old for his job,” the lawsuit says, according to Courthouse News. “Mr. Spagnuolo also told Mr. Hewitt that his employment was ‘NFL’ which means ‘Not For Long’ employment.”

Spagnuolo channeling Jerry Glanville aside, Hewitt claims that the Rams showed a pattern of firing older employees during the time when Spagnuolo was head coach and Bill Devaney was general manager. Both Spagnuolo and Devaney were themselves fired this year.

All I have to say is...

:roll:

 

[-X-]

:jerkoff:

 

[Stranger]

You know, I hope Todd wins this law suit, or at least comes out of it with a favorable settlement. He and his dad were fixtures on the sidelines of the Colesium and later, in Anaheim and then St Louis. It's a damn shame that a temporary regime can come-in and derail careers like this. The guy obviously performed his job well enough for ...

George Allen
Tommy Prothro
Chuck Knox
Ray Malavasi
John Robinson
Chuck Knox
Rich Brooks
Dick Vermeil
Mike Martz
Joe Vitt
Scott Linehan
Jim Haslett

Where these coaches took the Rams to the SB a total of 3-times, and the NFC champsionship countless time more. So, what the hell was wrong with Todd while Spags/Devaney were in charge, with a record of 10-38 during their last three seasons with the team?

This entire affair is a damn shame. Perhaps Fisher, who has memories of Todd & his Dad at the Coliseum can step-in and act as a buffer to help resolve a bad situation.

 

[Memento]

I hope this lawsuit gets thrown out of court. This sounds like a bunch of hearsay, and hearsay is a waste of everyone's time.

 

[BuiltRamTough]

You got fired so what take it like a man

 

[-X-]

I hope this lawsuit gets thrown out of court. This sounds like a bunch of hearsay, and hearsay is a waste of everyone's time.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. The thing is, we're only hearing one side of the story. Spagnuolo hasn't addressed this once, so we're just hearing Hewitt stories. And even if Spagnuolo was a dick to work for, that's just life. If Hewitt didn't like the environment, and possibly even defied him, then he simply became one of many (MANY) people who got fired during the lockout. It's a shame that a guy who had the same job for 40 years got axed, but I don't give a shit. I don't know the guy, and quite frankly I'm tired of hearing him whine about it. Sue, don't sue, do whatever. Just shut hell up. Stop talking to the media and just go to court and state your case. Then, if you win, get your "emotional damage" money and retire into obscurity.

 

[ScotsRam]

I hope this lawsuit gets thrown out of court. This sounds like a bunch of hearsay, and hearsay is a waste of everyone's time.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. The thing is, we're only hearing one side of the story. Spagnuolo hasn't addressed this once, so we're just hearing Hewitt stories. And even if Spagnuolo was a dick to work for, that's just life. If Hewitt didn't like the environment, and possibly even defied him, then he simply became one of many (MANY) people who got fired during the lockout. It's a shame that a guy who had the same job for 40 years got axed, but I don't give a shit. I don't know the guy, and quite frankly I'm tired of hearing him whine about it. Sue, don't sue, do whatever. Just shut hell up. Stop talking to the media and just go to court and state your case. Then, if you win, get your "emotional damage" money and retire into obscurity.

I agree with this. I actually think Spags is being smart by not addressing it in the media. The court is going to decide, not the comments on ProFootballTalk... there's no point in making stuff like this public.

 

[Warner4Prez]

Very bogus. Does this entitle every player to sue after they were cut because a coach told them they were too fat or too slow for NFL football?

 

[bluecoconuts]

You know, I hope Todd wins this law suit, or at least comes out of it with a favorable settlement. He and his dad were fixtures on the sidelines of the Colesium and later, in Anaheim and then St Louis. It's a damn shame that a temporary regime can come-in and derail careers like this.

I don't. I felt bad at first, he got let go, fired, whatever. But that happens, it's called life. But the drama he's caused, the bitterness he has, cheering for Spags to get fired, etc.

Basically, fuck this guy now. He got fired, deal with it. Spags had every right to fire him. If he doesn't like it, tough. That's what happens when you work in the NFL. People think they have a right to sue for anything and everything, that's stupid.

Plus if he was working with the team for 40 years or whatever, he's old enough and has enough money to get by. He's just being a crybaby about it.

 

[Selassie I]

Maybe it's just a technicality ,,, but I thought Hewitt's contract was "up", and Spags decided not to renew it.

Whatever the case... Hewitt is the second biggest embarrassment for the Rams next to Spags in my book.

 

[Stranger]

jesus freaking christ, what the fuck has happened in this country. it's bad enough that the working man gets screwed by the monied class, but it gets pretty despicable when working men turn on each other as well.

There was a time in this country when spags/devaney would have risked getting their legs broken for pulling crap like that. Now, people cheer when another gets it up the ass.

I excuse Scotsman cause he's a POME and shouldn't know any better, but American's used to be outraged at this kinda behavior.

anyway, can't wait to read the depositions.

 

[-X-]

Re:

jesus freaking christ, what the fuck has happened in this country. it's bad enough that the working man gets screwed by the monied class, but it gets pretty despicable when working men turn on each other as well.

There was a time in this country when spags/devaney would have risked getting their legs broken for pulling crap like that. Now, people cheer when another gets it up the ass.

I excuse Scotsman cause he's a POME and shouldn't know any better, but American's used to be outraged at this kinda behavior.

anyway, can't wait to read the depositions.

Respectfully, I still think it's horseshit. I'm actually in the process of being sued by someone who realized I had $5M in insurance coverage and figured they might as well drag me into a lawsuit against another company simply because I once weighed in on a subject. AN OPINION is what I gave. I have no empathy for people like that. People who have to sue someone for emotional damage or wrongful termination or whatever other stupid reason there is to sue someone nowadays. And he's still running his yap for no other reason than to get his name in print. So I'll say again, shut your pie-hole and SUE the Organization. If you win, talk about it all you want. Until then, I don't care to hear about your opinions or your heart-breaking horror stories about being cast aside.


And I'd say all that too if Linehan fired him. It's the principle of the matter to me.





EDITED. Sorry. I'm in a mood and got carried away.

 

[Anonymous]

My opinion on this? Todd was an entitled Georgia pet. Once Georgia was gone his act didn't work and there was no one to "protect" him.

 

[-X-]

My opinion on this? Todd was an entitled Georgia pet. Once Georgia was gone his act didn't work and there was no one to "protect" him.

That's a theory. And I think he was an "in" for most of the mainstay media guys in St Louis. As we all know, Spagnuolo shut the door on all that right after he was hired. I don't know if that's right or wrong, and I don't think it matters. People run businesses their own way and everyone else has to fall in line. That's just the way it is.

 

[Anonymous]

My opinion on this? Todd was an entitled Georgia pet. Once Georgia was gone his act didn't work and there was no one to "protect" him.

That's a theory. And I think he was an "in" for most of the mainstay media guys in St Louis. As we all know, Spagnuolo shut the door on all that right after he was hired. I don't know if that's right or wrong, and I don't think it matters. People run businesses their own way and everyone else has to fall in line. That's just the way it is.

If I understood you correctly, you did not offer a completely unencumbered, pure endorsement of my argument. There was some slight hesitation. It wasn't 100%.

So be it.

If that's the way you want to do it, see ya in court then.

 

[-X-]

My opinion on this? Todd was an entitled Georgia pet. Once Georgia was gone his act didn't work and there was no one to "protect" him.

That's a theory. And I think he was an "in" for most of the mainstay media guys in St Louis. As we all know, Spagnuolo shut the door on all that right after he was hired. I don't know if that's right or wrong, and I don't think it matters. People run businesses their own way and everyone else has to fall in line. That's just the way it is.

If I understood you correctly, you did not offer a completely unencumbered, pure endorsement of my argument. There was some slight hesitation. It wasn't 100%.

So be it.

If that's the way you want to do it, see ya in court then.

Get in line.

 

[ScotsRam]

Re:

jesus freaking christ, what the fuck has happened in this country. it's bad enough that the working man gets screwed by the monied class, but it gets pretty despicable when working men turn on each other as well.

There was a time in this country when spags/devaney would have risked getting their legs broken for pulling crap like that. Now, people cheer when another gets it up the ass.

I excuse Scotsman cause he's a POME and shouldn't know any better, but American's used to be outraged at this kinda behavior.

anyway, can't wait to read the depositions.

I think you're being a little unfair on me there, I didn't state an opinion either way, merely agreed with the sentiment that it should be behind closed doors.

 

[joeybittick]

My opinion on this? Todd was an entitled Georgia pet. Once Georgia was gone his act didn't work and there was no one to "protect" him.

That's a theory. And I think he was an "in" for most of the mainstay media guys in St Louis. As we all know, Spagnuolo shut the door on all that right after he was hired. I don't know if that's right or wrong, and I don't think it matters. People run businesses their own way and everyone else has to fall in line. That's just the way it is.

If I understood you correctly, you did not offer a completely unencumbered, pure endorsement of my argument. There was some slight hesitation. It wasn't 100%.

So be it.

If that's the way you want to do it, see ya in court then.

 

[Angry Ram]

Re:

jesus freaking christ, what the fuck has happened in this country. it's bad enough that the working man gets screwed by the monied class, but it gets pretty despicable when working men turn on each other as well.

There was a time in this country when spags/devaney would have risked getting their legs broken for pulling crap like that. Now, people cheer when another gets it up the ass.

I excuse Scotsman cause he's a POME and shouldn't know any better, but American's used to be outraged at this kinda behavior.

anyway, can't wait to read the depositions.

There was also a time in this country when ppl didn't just sue for every thing, just to make a quick buck.

Hewitt has been acting like a spoiled brat this whole time.

And the thing that pisses me off the most, is that Hewitt continues to dog on the Rams. Isn't Demoff the only FO guy still here? If his beef is w/ Spags/Devaney, direct it at them, not the team.

Actually, he sounds like the perfect BSPN "analyst."

 

[-X-]

Re: Re:

There was also a time in this country when ppl didn't just sue for every thing, just to make a quick buck.

Hewitt has been acting like a spoiled brat this whole time.

And the thing that pisses me off the most, is that Hewitt continues to dog on the Rams. Isn't Demoff the only FO guy still here? If his beef is w/ Spags/Devaney, direct it at them, not the team.

Actually, he sounds like the perfect BSPN "analyst."

Agree. And didn't he have a party the day after Spags and Devaney were fired? I mean, an actual get together and eat/drink/celebrate party? I seem to remember even seeing video of that. Imagine that. Basking in the enjoyment of someone else's termination.

And, if I'm not mistaken, Spags can't arbitrarily fire people without the COO's (Demoff) approval. If Hewitt was such a valuable hitching post to the Organization, surely Demoff would have suggested an alternative. Like I said, we're only hearing one side of this. Who the hell knows what this guy did to get canned? If you ask Hewitt, he didn't do anything wrong at all. Didn't mouth off, followed direction to the letter, and all of a sudden got waxed. Yeah, I don't know about all that.