The head coach of the National Football League's Oakland Raiders team, Tom Cable, was relieved that the prosecutor in California's Napa County declined to pursue charges that Cable allegedly assaulted Assistant Coach Randy Hanson in a meeting this past August.
If you are not familiar with the case the basic events that are not disputed are as follows:
On August 4, 2009 - Cable (the boss effectively), held a meeting with Hanson and three other assistant coaches, John Marshall, Lionel Washington, and Willie Brown.
During the meeting there was some kind of argument and altercation between Cable and Hanson.
The following day Hanson was seen at a hospital and diagnosed with a broken jaw.
What is disputed is the precise nature of the altercation, and whether or not Cable actually assaulted Hanson. At least according to the prosucutor, there were enough inconsistencies in Hanson's version of events that pursuing criminal charges was not warranted.
But the prosecutors did note that the other coaches in the meeting claimed that Cable became angry and rushed toward Hanson, but Washington stepped between the two. Cable then ran into Washington, who bumped into Hanson and knocked him out of his chair. The witnesses also told authorities that Cable then grabbed Hanson by the shirt but never struck or threatened him.
Ok, so maybe 'rushing' someone, knocking them out of a chair, and grabbing them by the shirt separately or together don't rise to the level of criminal assault, but I am pretty sure they fail any standard of what is appropriate workplace conduct.
So certainly the Raiders have suspended Cable, perhaps even terminated him, right? I mean you can't go around 'rushing' and grabbing the shirts of subordinates can you?
Apparently, if you work for the Raiders you can. No disciplinary action has been taken on Cable by the team or the NFL (although the league has not ruled it out taking some action). He might get fired anyway for performance reasons, as of this writing the Raiders are 2-4 and rank near the bottom of the league in most important statistical categories.
And Hanson?
He was placed on essentially what amounts to paid leave while this gets sorted out.
Five employees go to a staff meeting, one leaves with a broken jaw and he is the only one to suffer any adverse effect in the workplace.
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Oakland Raiders!