SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A former basketball coach at Onondaga Community College says he was ordered to maintain a quota of 30 percent minority players.

When the coach, Dave Pasiak, refused to recruit players based on race, OCC fired him, he claims in a federal lawsuit he filed this week.

Pasiak sued OCC, its president, Kathleen "Casey" Crabill, and a vice president, David Murphy.

Pasiak was called into a meeting in February 2015 with Murphy, Athletic Director Michael Borsz and another administrator. Murphy told him they were concerned his program "was not 'friendly' to minorities," the lawsuit said.

Pasiak told Murphy he would not recruit players based on race, the lawsuit said.

Pasiak knew that using race to recruit players violated OCC's policies, the National Junior College Athletic Association rules and the law, the lawsuit said.

Four months later, OCC gave Pasiak a written assessment that said he needed to create a diverse team, the suit said. He again told administrators he "would not use race as a stand-alone recruiting criteria," the suit said.

In November 2015, OCC placed Pasiak on administrative leave without telling him why, the lawsuit said. The college distributed a news release, saying he was placed on leave pending the results of an investigation into his conduct.

A month later, Pasiak met with Crabill. She questioned him about his recruiting, how he selected his players and about his interactions with minority players, the suit said. She asked him about one minority player who tried out for the 2013-14 team but was cut, the suit said. That player isn't identified in the suit.

At that meeting, Crabill never told Pasiak about the allegations that caused OCC to place him on leave, the suit said.

OCC fired Pasiak Dec. 22 without stating a reason.

Pasiak claims it was in retaliation for his refusal to use race as a primary factor in recruiting and selecting his players.

Amy Kremenek, a spokeswoman for OCC, refused to comment on the lawsuit.

Pasiak and his lawyer also could not be reached for comment.

He was the only one of OCC's 17 coaches who was mandated to create a more diverse team, the lawsuit said.

Pasiak's seeking money damages for his lost wages, emotional distress, pain and suffering. He's also seeking punitive damages against OCC.

Pasiak claims in the lawsuit that OCC defamed him with the news release about placing him on leave. He contends OCC falsely claimed it was conducting an investigation when the college had already decided to fire him, the lawsuit said.

"Crabill had already decided to terminate (Pasiak) at the time they issued the statement and there was no conduct of (Pasiak) which was needed to be investigated," the suit said.

In January, Pasiak provided Syracuse.com with a breakdown of his 2013-2014 team. It was made up of 26.9 percent African-Americans, which was highest among nine team sports at OCC, he said.

OCC's student body had 11.3 percent African-Americans and Onondaga County had 11.7, Pasiak's statistics showed.

Pasiak, 54, coached the Lazers to a record of 259-197 in his 15 years.

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