By Ellen J. Staurowsky, Ed.D., Senior Contributor & Professor, Sport Management, Drexel University, ejs95@drexel.edu[5]
The complaint is damning in its allegations. Reports of a male head softball coach at a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institution using inappropriate language and aggression directed at players made by a prominent sport psychologist and academic result in no independent investigation. The male coach’s abuse of the team and staff results in a female associate coach being punched in the face. And still silence from an administration who counted among their ranks the male coach’s sister who served as the athletic director. The male coach retired abruptly, able to be hired a year later, while the remaining coaches on staff (both female) were fired and contract services for the sport psychologist and her business were terminated. Was this a case of an athletic department and institutional cover up of coach abuse followed by the wrongful dismissal of a mandatory reporter who was retaliated against and defamed?
Basic Facts in the Case
For an uninterrupted 13 year period of time, from 2005 through 2018, Dr. Jennifer (Jenny) Conviser and her staff of psychologists, exercise scientists, nurses, and nutritionists through her company, Insight Behavioral Health (LLC) (later named Ascend), provided mental health services to students at the largest Catholic institution of higher learning in the United States, DePaul University. Countless athletes were referred by the athletic department to Ascend for mental training and counseling and the company further provided consultation to coaches, athletic trainers, sports medicine personnel, and others.
In 2016, based on information obtained through credible sources, Dr. Conviser reported to officials in the DePaul athletic department including Sue Walsh, director of sports medicine and then associate athletic director, Kathyrn Statz, and Title IX office that concerns had been raised about head women’s softball coach, Eugene Lenti, and his use of inappropriate abusive language when communicating with the team. According to Conviser, that report should have triggered an independent investigation into Coach Lenti’s conduct. Instead, Statz directed her to meet with Coach Lenti and the team to address, with Conviser assuming the responsibility for conducting several sessions with the softball coaching staff about fostering collaborative and respectful environments consistent with Title IX’s expectations. Conviser claims that she took the leadership to organize these meetings because those responsible had abdicated their responsibility.
They further assert that regardless of Conviser’s efforts to intercede as instructed, there was a failure by administrators to pursue an investigation into Coach Lenti’s conduct nor was there follow up from offices assigned to pursue such matters, including the Title IX office and the Office of General Counsel. after the report was made. Due to the protection allegedly afforded him through his relationship with his sister, Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto, the troubling conduct was ignored despite the notice given to the institution warranting a response.
Following attendance at the NCAA Mental Health Summit hosted at Georgetown in June of 2017, Conviser returned to DePaul, advocating with Walsh and Statz for the need for greater educational efforts to be done with the DePaul athletes about mental health resources on campus. Finding little response, Conviser requested a meeting in December of 2017 with Walsh, athletic director Lenti Ponsetti, and Dr. Jill Hollembeak, the senior associate athletic director for varsity sports and deputy Title IX coordinator. In the meeting, she again raised specific instances reported to her about Coach Lenti’s alleged emotional abuse of players (described in the complaint as ignoring them, excluding them, teasing them, using profanity directed at them, yelling at them, and/or calling them derogatory names). Dr. Conviser claims that her specific efforts to draw attention to a concerning pattern on the part of Coach Lenti to recruit athletes who were especially vulnerable due to family circumstances (single parent households, impoverished backgrounds) drew a round of denial from everyone present, revealing what is described as a surprising level of ignorance on the part of the administrators that such concerns existed within their own athletic department.
Dr. Conviser theorizes that the conflicts of interests between brother and sister as well as a “revolving door” between athletic department personnel and other offices were interwoven into the relationships between and among DePaul’s Department of Athletics, Title IX Office, and the Office of General Counsel, paving the way for Coach Lenti to persist in his abusive conduct, resulting in the assault on a female associate coach who was a DePaul graduate and a former member of the team. Those overlapping relationships, according to the complaint, disabled the capacity for the University to fulfill its obligation to provide independent, objective, and confidential investigations or offer compliance advise. When a softball player reported the incident to authorities at DePaul, the administration closed ranks, engaging in what Dr. Conviser claims was a five-step “cover up” process. Those steps included the following:
Step 1 — DePaul’s willingness to allow Coach Lenti to retire quietly and to move on to a prestigious assistant coaching position at Auburn University left no trail of the troubling behavior that had occurred. With Auburn appearing not to have any knowledge nor seemingly seeking any knowledge of coach misconduct, and no record of wrongdoing, Lenti’s departure left his reputation intact. An avenue where such a report would have created a record for employers to consult was the U.S. Center for SafeSport, an organization set up under the auspices of the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization of 2017 so as to avoid a circumstance where an abusive coach’s behavior goes unchecked and is moved from one institution to another, suffering little to no consequence but perpetrating abuse on other teams. However, according to the complaint, DePaul avoided this reporting obligation as well.
Step 2 — With Coach Lenti’s departure, the athletic department is alleged to have removed the rest of the coaching staff, including the associate head coach who was believed to be the victim of Lenti’s physical attack.
Step 3 — Rather than acknowledging the need to investigate the incidents of abuse reported about Coach Lenti, the University sought to separate itself from the whistleblower, Dr. Conviser. She lost her job, no further referrals of athletes were made, and the University’s contract with Ascend was repudiated.
Step 4 — Dr. Conviser alleges that contrary to her effort to bring these concerns to the attention of DePaul’s authorities, individuals at the University sought to defame her by falsely sharing information with members of the community that she had discouraged athletes from reporting concerns of abuse. According to the complaint, “In an act of ‘gaslighting,’ DePaul also accused Dr. Conviser of getting her “facts wrong,” attempting to wrongly portray her as merely a befuddled, unhinged vendor with an ax to grind” (p. 5).
Step 5 — The University opted to protect its brand and winning culture to the detriment of the health and safety of its athletes, thus empowering coaches to engage in misconduct without consequence.
The Sport Psychologist
The plaintiff in this case, Dr. Conviser, is a licensed clinical psychologist who holds the rank of a clinical associate professor in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.[6] She is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Ascend Consultation in Health Care as well as Illinois Sport & Performance Institute (ISPI) (Association for Applied Sport Psychology, 2020; Faculty Profile, 2020; Illinois Sport & Performance Institute, 2020). With a background in exercise science and experience serving as a coach at the NCAA Division I level, she holds certificates of training in sport psychology from the Association of Applied Sport Psychology; behavioral medicine from the University of Chicago (where she received her doctoral degree); family and child psychotherapy (the Family Institute of Northwestern University); and eating disorders specialist (International Association of Eating Disorders). According to her bio, prior to her dismissal at DePaul, she directed Sport Psychology Services there as well as directing the mental training program for the United States Figure Skating Senior, Elite, and National teams. (Association of Applied Sport Psychology, 2020).
The Coach
Prior to his retirement from DePaul in 2018, Eugene Lenti had served the institution for 37 years, from 1980-1987 and again from 1990-2018. He left DePaul as the winningest coach in the institution’s history, with the softball team accumulating 1,327 wins while he was head coach with 20 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament appearances. His teams competed in four Women’s College World Series in the years 1999, 2000, 2005, and 2007. His players were recognized with numerous awards over the years, including 14 All-Americans, nine conference players of the year, and ten conference pitchers of the year.
Inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame in 2008, he amassed a number of professional honors while at DePaul, including being a part of the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year six times, Conference-USA (C-USA) Coach of the Year once, Mid-Continent (the Summit League) Coach of the Year three times, and the North Star Conference Coach of the Year once. Conference-USA also conferred two coach of the decade honors on Lenti, one for women’s coach and the other for softball coach. In 1999, following a 54-win season and DePaul finishing third in the nation, Lenti received the NFCA Coach of the Year award.
On June 15, 2018, Lenti’ retirement announcement on the DePaul athletic department website was brief, containing a quote from the coach that read: “I am announcing at this time, that effective immediately, I am retiring and stepping down from my position as head softball coach at DePaul University. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone associated with the softball program and the DePaul athletic department for their support throughout the years” (Staff, 2018).[7] Almost a year to the day later, Auburn University softball announced that Lenti was hired as an assistant coach in that program. Lenti had previously worked with the Auburn head coach, Mickey Dean, after both served as coaches with the professional women’s softball team, the Chicago Bandits.
Legal Claims
Dr. Conviser seeks a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois on six counts.
Count 1 — Retaliation under Title IX. Dr. Conviser alleges that her work in encouraging an athlete to report having seen Coach Lenti hit his associate female softball coach in the face was a part of Conviser’s professional duties and protected activity under Title IX. In the aftermath of the report, and previous efforts to raise about Coach Lenti’s conduct, the University stopped referring athletes to her care and eventually repudiated a contract for services. She further claims that DePaul’s administrators labeled her a “malcontent” and troublemaker, someone who did not have her facts straight, causing her reputational as well as financial harms.
Count II — Breach of Contract/Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing — as outlined in the complaint, DePaul agreed to refer athletes to Conviser and her company, Ascend, for clinical psychological assessment and support in exchange for preliminary evaluations of athletes identified by DePaul for illnesses of a psychological or nutritional nature. A week after Conviser’s patient reported that Coach Lenti had hit another coach, the University terminated the contract with Ascend and stopped payment for services. The University’s refusal to continue to refer patients to Conviser also constitutes a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing under Illinois law by using her conduct in rightfully facilitating a Title IX complaint and retaliating against her.
Count III — Indemnification — the contract the University had with DePaul includes an indemnification clause covering breach of contract, covering attorneys’ costs and fees associated with seeking redress. By terminating the contract early, there was a breach of the agreement and by refusing to send Ascend new patients, an act of bad faith.
Count IV — Defamation per se — Dr. Conviser alleges that she was defamed by being characterized by officials at DePaul as incompetent, someone who “frequently got her facts wrong” and someone of questionable professional standing. Dr. Conviser believes that knowingly false statements were made about her to DePaul athletes, coaches, and others in the community, leading to individuals being discouraged from continuing or seeking treatment from her.
Count V & VI — Defamation per quod and False Light — Dr. Conviser points to correspondence with University president and a response from DePaul’s general counsel that allegedly reveal that the University has “told third parties that Dr. Conviser is incompetent…and cannot be trusted in a professional capacity” (p. 28). According to the complaint, the University was aware that derogatory statements made about Conviser were false, highly offensive, and made with reckless disregard as to their truth.
Dr. Conviser seeks punitive damages (including pre-and post-judgement interest) as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.
Conclusion
Based on the complaint, the University in its correspondent with Conviser’s attorneys has aggressively indicated that the facts as presented in this case are not accurate and that the contractual arrangement between Conviser and the University was terminated, not as a result of retaliation against a whistleblower, but a necessary action based on a reevaluation of the professional standing of Conviser. The case raises interesting questions about the conflicts of interest that arise when athletic department personnel are designated as Title IX coordinators and the potential for such arrangements to impair or damage the ability of an institution to conduct an unbiased and independent investigation into abuse allegations. It further highlights the challenges when family members work together in athletic departments and raises questions about how that relationship was managed in this case.[8]
References
Association for Applied Sports Psychology. (2020). Consultant Profile. Retrieved from https://appliedsportpsych.org/certification/cmpc-directory/profile/8076
Faculty Profile. (2020). Feinberg School of Medicine Website. Retrieved from https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=14684
Illinois Sport & Performance Institute. (2020). Our team. Retrieved from https://www.sportperformillinois.com/our-team
Jennifer Conviser and Ascend Consultation in Health Care, Inc. v. DePaul University (2020). Case no. 2020l004282. Retrieved from https://zumpanopatriciosprofessional.lexblogplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/780/2020/04/JC-v-DePaul-Filed-Complaint.pdf
Rene, S., & Conboy, B. (2018, June 13). Lenti makes sudden exit after more than 30 years. The DePaulia. Retrieved from https://depauliaonline.com/35999/sports/lenti-makes-sudden-exit-after-more-than-30-years/
Staff. (2018, June 15). DePaul softball coach Eugene Lenti announces retirement. DePaulbluedemons.com. Retrieved from https://depaulbluedemons.com/news/2018/6/15/DePaul_Softball_Coach_Eugene_Lenti_Announces_Retirement.aspx
Staff. (2019, June 14). Hall of Famers Eugene Lenti joins Auburn coaching staff. Auburntigers.com. Retrieved from https://auburntigers.com/news/2019/6/14/softball-hall-of-famer-eugene-lenti-joins-auburn-coaching-staff.aspx
Staff. (2019). Eugene Lenti: Assistant Softball Coach bio. Auburntigers.com. Retrieved from https://auburntigers.com/sports/softball/roster/coaches/eugene-lenti/517
[5] According to the complaint, Statz later became University’s director of gender equity/Title IX coordinator. According to Statz’s bio on the DePaul University Website, where is listed in this role, she received her law degree from Marquette and worked in enforcement at the NCAA prior to working as an athletic administrator at DePaul.
[6] In one bio, her rank is listed as an assistant clinical professor. In another, her rank is listed as an associate professor.
[7] The student paper, The DePaulia, reported that Coach Lenti’s departure was sudden. The article also reveals that Coach Lenti’s wife, a former player of his at DePaul and a bank executive, was instrumental in facilitating the naming rights for the Wintrust Arena (Rene & Conboy, 2018).
[8] It appears that Conviser’s businesses (Ascend and Illinois Sport & Performance Institute) are family run businesses. Her co-found in these businesses is Dr. Jason Conviser.
