WeagleAU 594 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 http://www.oanow.com/sports/college/auburn/olympic/former-auburn-track-coach-sues-university-for-discrimination-assault-and/article_094c99bc-b84e-11e7-a1a9-93a0fff59aba.html Looks like JJ has got another fire to put out. When will it end? Please post article and not just a link Quote Former Auburn track coach sues university for discrimination, assault and battery A former Auburn University assistant track and field coach is suing the school’s board of trustees for discrimination and alleges another member of the coaching staff physically assaulted him in 2015. Adrian Ghioroaie-Panait, now an assistant coach at the University of Toledo, filed the lawsuit last week with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Defendants in the case are listed as Auburn’s board of trustees and Henry Rolle, assistant head coach of track and field. The 17-page lawsuit follows Ghioroaie-Panait’s termination from Auburn and a charge of discrimination he filed last year. In the documents, he claims he was discriminated against by Rolle and other African-American members of the athletic department, because he is of Romanian descent and nationality. “Upon the beginning of my contract with Auburn, Auburn promised me it would assist me with obtaining a green card or continuing work visa,” Ghioroaie-Panait wrote in the discrimination charge, filed October 2016. “Approximately $4,000 was paid by the department for my green card sponsorship to an Atlanta attorney. As the process to obtain a green card can take several years, I believed Auburn’s sponsorship of my obtaining a green card was an indication of a long relationship with the university.” In May 2015, Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs sent a letter to then-president Jay Gogue, recognizing the Romanian native as a coach in good standing and accepting green card sponsorship. Ghioroaie-Panait was employed by Auburn from January 2014 to May 2016. During that time, the student athletes whom he coached scored 26.5 of the team’s total 47.5 NCAA points. But Ghioroaie-Panait alleges he felt unsafe at Auburn due to harassment and at least one incident of physical violence from Rolle, a native of the Bahamas. The documents site an incident on Oct. 1, 2015, during which Rolle attacked Ghioroaie-Panait at a coaches’ meeting. “Coach Rolle put his hands around my neck and started to squeeze,” Ghioroaie-Panait wrote. “I was frightened and grabbed my cell phone to record the incident, but head coach Ralph Spry grabbed my phone out of my hand. The other coaches in the meeting attempted to intervene, and Coach Rolle picked up a metal tiger statue and started swinging it toward my head.” Rolle was unable to strike Ghioroaie-Panait with the statue, but the jump coach said red marks were visible on his neck for two days after the incident. The lawsuit filed last week includes a footnote accusing Rolle of “a pattern of unsafe behavior.” “He was observed intimidating and yelling at a female student athlete on the team,” the document states. “During a track program evaluation by Dr. Green, female student athletes interviewed as a group stated they don’t feel safe with Coach Rolle.” The suit also claims Rolle and Spry call student athletes by inappropriate names. “The administration was aware of this practice, because student athletes complained about being called names,” it states. Ghioroaie-Panait is suing the university and Rolle for Title VII race discrimination, national origin discrimination, discrimination based on color, retaliation, assault and battery. Among his demands listed in the suit are the school giving him back pay, compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and other costs. In the lawsuit, he says there were other unreported incidents of aggression from Rolle toward him. Ghioroaie-Panait also made reports to Spry about possible NCAA and university safety rules violations, some by Rolle. “At one point, Human Resources suggested that I simply not speak to Coach Rolle, even if he was threatening me or invading my personal space,” Ghioroaie-Panait says in the discrimination charge. “During a meeting on March 9, 2016, the Auburn official from Human Resources asked me if I was lying. Shortly after that meeting, I was told I was going to be evaluated by Coach Spry for my first, and only, time since I started coaching at Auburn.” On May 1, 2016, Ghioroaie-Panait was told his contract would not be renewed, and he would not be allowed to finish the 2016 outdoor track and field season. This also prevented him from participating in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio as a track coach for any Auburn athletes who qualified for the Olympic trials. “When I asked why my contract was not being renewed, I was initially told they did not need a reason for not renewing my contract, and it was without cause,” Ghioroaie-Panait stated in the documents. “Eventually, Head Coach Spry asked me if I remembered when I threatened to sue the university when I complained about him and Coach Rolle maintaining an unsafe, abusive and stressful working environment. I believe this was the true motivation behind failing to renew my contract.” This is the latest issue involving coaches in the embattled Auburn athletic department. Head softball coach Clint Myers resigned in August, after claims surfaced that he allowed his son, former assistant coach Corey Myers, to have relations with players on the team. Last month, the men's basketball program came under fire when associate head coach Chuck Person was named in an NCAA-wide federal corruption investigation. Asked for comment by the Opelika-Auburn News, Auburn Athletics issued a one-sentence statement Monday evening: "We will not comment on pending litigation." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,579 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 The pay ain't so hot in Ohio, so hey! Let's file a lawsuit 17 months after getting fired. 'Tis a sad, sad world we live in these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 58 minutes ago, Mikey said: The pay ain't so hot in Ohio, so hey! Let's file a lawsuit 17 months after getting fired. 'Tis a sad, sad world we live in these days. He..or his lawyer see AU with some other legal issues and are probably hoping for a quick $100,000 out of court settlement to make this go away and get it out of the news. So what do we have.....:reverse discrimination? That should make for some interesting exchanges in the Political Discussion portion of this Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutzcammed 469 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 its a little ridiculous you gotta sue someone because you bout got your butt whipped... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustache eagle 2,398 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 This stinks. Assuming there are no grounds here, I hope auburn tells them to stick it. some coaches go after each other in a college sport ... boy that’s never happened before ... good grief. btw, this is some absolutely pathetic “he said she said” allegations on top of being filled with a high level of wuss and waah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Freak 2,527 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 Discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation... not a good look if any of it is provable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlaskanFAN 1,666 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 Oh brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 2 hours ago, The Freak said: Discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation... not a good look if any of it is provable. How about IF NOT.? .....then how do you see this news item.?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustache eagle 2,398 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 2 hours ago, The Freak said: Discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation... not a good look if any of it is provable. Did you read the article (not being a smart ass)? My middle school kid could have come up with better stated issues than these. This sounds pathetic and shallow. Heck, even if some of it were true i'd still want to tell him to stick it and tell him to put on his big boy panties. Each statement could easily be explained away as being trivial and innocuous, only blown up by someone without a spine. I am not sure why this set me off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keesler 5,924 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 “He was observed intimidating and yelling at a female student athlete on the team,” the document states. “During a track program evaluation by Dr. Green, female student athletes interviewed as a group stated they don’t feel safe with Coach Rolle.” Watch another Title XI law suit spring up out of nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 2 hours ago, keesler said: “He was observed intimidating and yelling at a female student athlete on the team,” the document states. “During a track program evaluation by Dr. Green, female student athletes interviewed as a group stated they don’t feel safe with Coach Rolle.” Watch another Title XI law suit spring up out of nowhere. Could be...not being political but under interpretations sent out by the last administration it's basically guilty unless you can prove yourself innocent on Title IX allegations which apparently has generated a huge increase in unsubstantiated claims. https://jamesriverlegal.com/index.php/practice-areas/title-ix-defense/title-ix-for-parents This is by a lawyer with a point of view, but still makes interesting reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlaskanFAN 1,666 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 Who is Dr. Green that did this program evaluation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keesler 5,924 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 23 hours ago, The Freak said: Discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation... not a good look if any of it is provable. How the hell did things get so heated that a coach tried to strangle/choke another coach & then started throwing objects at him? And why the hell did other coaches in attendance try to prevent he guy from recording the altercation on his cell phone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustache eagle 2,398 Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 On 10/25/2017 at 9:30 AM, keesler said: How the hell did things get so heated that a coach tried to strangle/choke another coach & then started throwing objects at him? And why the hell did other coaches in attendance try to prevent he guy from recording the altercation on his cell phone? The reason why I think this story is complete made up crap ... the story never said strangle or choke. It said hands around neck and squeezed!? If someone was being choked, by gosh they’d say so. Like I mentioned above about easy alternate explainations - havent you been ticked or pretending to be mad and put your hands on someone’s traps from behind and squeezed firmly? Again he’d have said choked if he was. The comment about the phone and swinging a metal tiger (by the Bahamian coach - oh the jokes with this one) seem entirely too odd as to make me think there was a normal bit heated disagreement that has other easy explanations. this is a situational money grab. Hope they tell him to stick it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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