Onetime Washington State Cougars coach Nick Rolovich has a new game plan: to sue his former employer after he was fired for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Rolovich and four assistant coaches were let go Monday night after a vaccine mandate deadline for all state employees went into effect. University athletics director Pat Chun noted that day that Rolovich’s firing was “for cause,” and the school would not continue to pay him.

Rolovich had been illegally terminated, an attorney representing the ex-coach said Wednesday, partially due to what he called this “discriminatory and vindictive behavior” by Chun. The lawyer confirmed to ESPN that his client had requested a religious exemption from the vaccine and been denied. “It is a tragic and damning commentary on our culture, and more specifically, on Chun,” the attorney said, “that Coach Rolovich has been derided, demonized and ultimately fired from his job, merely for being devout in his Catholic faith.” Chun, speaking on Monday, reiterated that Rolovich and the assistant coaches had had “months” to comply with the mandate.