Rutgers President Robert Barchi, right, assured Hermann she would not be fired after the initial reports of abuse emerged.
Credit: Getty Images
New Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann found herself in even more trouble Tuesday when The New York Times reported she was the subject of a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed in 2008. The lawsuit is still pending.
Hermann was a senior athletics administrator with Louisville — her employer before joining Rutgers — at the time.
The Times reported that assistant track and field coach Mary Banker complained to Hermann of sexist behavior by the head track and field coach. Banker was fired three weeks later.
The lawsuit filing shows emails from Hermann to Banker in which she says Banker “should not have gone to HR” with the complaints about the head coach.
It was just on Monday that Rutgers President Robert Barchi said the school had no plans to fire Hermann after it was reported over the weekend that Hermann had threatened and humiliated players as the volleyball coach at Tennessee. Hermann said she has no recollection of the meeting in which players brought the complaints against her for which she resigned.
She was also the subject of a lawsuit by a Tennessee assistant coach who claimed Hermann fired her for getting pregnant. The assistant won $150,000 from the school in the suit.
Hermann was hired in April. Previously, the school relieved Tim Pernetti for his mishandling of the firing of men’s basketball head coach Mike Rice for berating and abusing players.
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