Fired Arizona Cardinals assistant coach Sean Kugler will pursue an arbitration case against the team over his firing over allegations of an incident with a security guard while the team was in Mexico City to play the San Francisco 49ers last month.
Arizona-based law firm Shields Petitti announced it filed an arbitration request on his behalf, Kugler, in a statement on Friday that stated it would present “multiple claims against the Arizona Cardinals” related to Kugler’s dismissal.
Kugler, who was the Cardinals offensive line coach and run game coordinator, was sent home by the team before the Monday Night Football game on Nov. 21 after what the law firm described as “unsubstantiated allegations that he inappropriately touched a female security guard.”
“Respecting women is a core value for me, and something I have instilled in my children and the players that I coach,” Kugler said in a statement. “The mysterious allegations by the Cardinals are untrue, and I want to clear my name. Be it a miscommunication or mistaken identity, my family and I will cooperate fully and honestly with the NFL, Cardinals, or any other agency to get to the truth in this matter and restore my reputation.”
The firm said that the Cardinals dismissed Kugler without thoroughly investigating the incident.
“As an ongoing legal matter, we are going to refrain from comment other than to say that the team is confident the process will result in a much different set of facts than those presented today and that it had good cause to terminate Mr. Kugler’s employment,” the Cardinals said in a statement to Front Office Sports and other outlets.
In most situations, the NFL arbitration process is conducted out of public view and is required for employment disputes for league and team employees.
“Coach and his family have been desperate to understand from the Cardinals front office and others what rationale or evidence was used to terminate him for cause,” Kugler’s attorney Michael Petitti said in a statement.
A message left with Petitti was not immediately returned.
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