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Mr. Ed -> RE: General Gopher Talk (8/7/2015 3:17:26 PM)
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Groping too?
Lawsuit(s) on the horizon??
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The University of Minnesota released redacted transcripts of the sexual harassment complaints that led to the resignation of the school's athletic director in which two female co-workers accuse him of groping and making inappropriate advances at them.
One of the women, whose names are blacked out in the reports, told school administrators that at a recent event, what started out as her texting with Norwood Teague about setting him up with one of her friends devolved into him repeatedly pinching her butt and asking to perform oral sex on her.
The other women said Teague seemed intent on being next to her at the event and that she felt cornered by him at times. She said he kept asking when she was going to marry her boyfriend, and that he made unwelcome physical advances such as rubbing her back and poking her side.
Both women said they left the event with others because they felt that Teague might otherwise try to follow them.
Teague resigned Friday, effective immediately, and apologized for having sent "inappropriate texts" in a statement issued through television station KARE 11. He said he drank too much that night and that he will be seeking help for an alcohol problem.
"I behaved badly towards nice people and sent truly inappropriate texts," Teague said. "I'm embarrassed and I apologize to everyone involved. This neither reflects my true character or the true character of this great, great university."
The school's president, Eric Kaler, announced Teague's resignation in an email to staff, pointing out that the women who accused Teague of harassing them are not student-workers.
"To be clear, sexual harassment will not be tolerated at the University of Minnesota and I sincerely regret that our employees experienced this behavior. The University has an explicit policy and a strong code of conduct that articulates our standards," Kaler wrote.
Beth Goetz, deputy athletic director and senior woman administrator, has been named interim athletic director. Teague brought Goetz with him when he left Virginia Commonwealth University for Minnesota in 2012.
Teague was hired to replace Joel Maturi and was charged with reshaping a Golden Gophers athletic department that had fallen far behind the rest of the Big Ten in terms of facilities. Unlike Maturi, who tried to build a department that put resources into both the cash-generating sports like football and men's basketball and the lower profile sports including track and wrestling, Teague came in with a clear plan to emphasize the most popular sports in the hopes of generating more revenue that could trickle down to the rest of the department.
He set about to raise nearly $200 million to bring new practice facilities for football and men's basketball -- a gargantuan task for a school that hasn't had the type of sporting success that gets big donors to open their wallets. But Teague helped raise about $70 million in the first year of the plan, and the school had hoped to start breaking ground on new projects this fall.
Teague carved out a reputation as a basketball administrator in his previous six years as athletic director at VCU, where he teamed with coach Shaka Smart to bring the little-known program to national prominence. While at Minnesota, he fired Tubby Smith and hired Richard Pitino, the son of coaching legend Rick Pitino, to lead the men's program. He also replaced Pam Borton with Marlene Stollings on the women's side.
Teague said he planned to "reassess my career and life options. While I'm proud of my career accomplishments, I want to stop and take a look at my life and alcohol issues."
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