On Jan. 18, 2018, at about 4 a.m. Jason Warren’s phone rang.
A 15-year-old member of the Atlantic Canada U16 football team he coached had missed the 3:30 a.m. bus that took all the other players to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.
In the conversation that ensued, Warren told the youth he couldn’t take an Uber because they aren’t safe but one way or another the youth ended up taking a taxi alone to the airport, where he met up with his team for a flight back to Canada.
That unaccompanied taxi ride became the subject of a protracted legal dispute that ended Tuesday when Justice Kevin Coady of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court handed down his ruling.
“There were numerous opportunities to resolve this dispute in a way that would have preserved (Warren’s) relationship in the football community,” wrote Coady.
“Instead of taking advantage of these opportunities, he dug in his heels. I did not detect that any of the Respondent’s witnesses harbored any animus towards Mr. Warren. Mr. Warren created his own problems, ultimately driving a wedge between himself and those who had historically valued his contribution to the football community.”
The former technical director of Football Nova Scotia and head coach of this province’s U16 tackle team had been seeking damages from Football Canada over its decision to suspend him for three years from its events because of the unaccompanied taxi ride and a subsequent phone call with parents in which he refused to take responsibility for the cab ride.
“The impact of the suspension and lack of an appeal process took a significant toll on me,” wrote Warren in documents filed with the court.
“I was irritable and distracted at home with my wife and my young sons. … I spent my whole life believing that hard work and integrity would be rewarded, and that people would treat me fairly if I was honest and fair with them. The unfairness of the suspension and Football Canada’s response to my appeal affected me profoundly.”
The suspension by Football Canada from participating in their events did not prevent him from maintaining his job with Football Nova Scotia or continuing to coach this province’s team locally. However he has resigned from those positions.
The court heard that Warren had left a job as a public school teacher in 2013 to become the technical director of Football Nova Scotia in pursuit of his dream of coaching at the highest levels of the sport. He then volunteered to coach provincial level teams beyond his duties to the administrative body.
His successes with the team led Football Canada to ask him to volunteer as head coach of the Atlantic Canadian team that went to the 2018 International Bowl in Texas.
After everyone had returned to Canada, concerns spread among parents about the youth having taken a taxi unaccompanied to the airport. Football Canada scheduled a conference call with parents during which coaches were supposed to apologize for the incident.
According to court documents, when questioned by a mother, Warren said the youth had been “‘an issue all week and needed to get his stuff together because he needs to take ownership.”
Of the taxi ride, he said that the trip to the airport alone was “a good life lesson for him.”
After the phone call Football Canada’s board held an emergency meeting during which it decided on Warren’s three-year suspension.
While Warren later admitted that he never should have allowed the 15-year-old to travel unaccompanied in the cab, he sought to appeal his suspension.
Lawyers became involved on both sides with Football Canada requesting the matter go to mediation to avoid court proceedings and allow for the repair of the relationship between Warren and the administrative body.
Warren proceeded with litigation despite having been offered a reduction of his suspension to one year by Football Canada.
That litigation appears to have come to an end on Tuesday.
“Mr. Warren created his own problems, ultimately driving a wedge between himself and those who had historically valued his contribution to the football community,” wrote Coady in ruling against Warren.
“It is that wedge that caused him to become an outlier.”
Warren's lawyer did not return a call by 4 p.m. for comment.
