Charlie Langton: Penn State Trustees Fumble The Ball

Joe Paterno was thrown under the Penn State bus. The Penn State trustees, in an attempt to do damage control, created more problems and scrutiny for their school, which will reach far beyond their football program.

Joe Paterno is not the bad guy. He is at best a witness to a hearsay statement made by a low-level ranking member of the football team. What Paterno reportedly did was to tell his boss, the athletic director Tim Curley, a disgusting story of a 10-year-old's molestation. Until we hear something different, Paterno is getting canned because he should have done more than tell his boss.

There is no legal duty for Paterno to do anything other than to tell his boss. Paterno did just that. The trustees have now created an extra requirement in Paterno's employment relationship whereas if you are told of criminal activity you must do something more than tell your boss. That is not fair. The legal term is called "a condition of employment." If you don't do more or, worse yet, disagree with whatever action your boss does or does not do, you can be fired. This is a terrible precedent.

There's a saying in the law that bad facts make bad law. This is a great example of that. People should respect their boss and respect that their boss will do the right thing. But at Penn State, you not only have a duty to question your boss, you have a duty to take different action if you disagree with your boss. Coach Paterno was put in a no-win situation: definitely not the playing field I'd want to play on.

Listen to audio of Charlie talking about this subject: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/audio-on-demand/charlie-langton/