College Football Coach Fired for Failure to Comply with the Clery Act

Kienus Perez Boulware (Boulware) was employed by the Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) since 2010.  In 2016, he entered into a four-year contract as head coach.  Among his “other duties . . . as may be assigned,” Boulware served as a Campus Security Authority, tasked with assisting WSSU in complying with its duties under the Clery Act, which requires universities to track and report crimes. 

In April 2019, two football players got into a fight on the field.  They then fought in the locker room.  They were sent home to their dorms, where they continued to fight.  The father of one of the football players told Mr. Boulware that there might have been a gun involved.  Mr. Boulware went to the dorm room, discovered what was likely marijuana, but did not search for a gun after the players denied that there was one.  

A few weeks later, the school began proceedings to terminate Mr. Boulware for cause.  He had not notified campus police or any other authorities, despite a situation that clearly posed a potential threat to security on campus.  He thus violated his duties as a Campus Security Authority.  Mr. Boulware exhausted his on-campus avenues of review and then appealed his termination in state court.

In July, in Boulware v. University of North Carolina Board of Governors, the North Carolina Court of Appeals sided with WSSU and ruled that his termination was valid.  WSSU had correctly interpreted the Clery Act and had stated multiple grounds for terminating Mr. Boulware and had been asserting those grounds consistently throughout the proceedings.