Mike Garrett, the former athletic director at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA), has been sued for sexual harassment in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Garrett allegedly retaliated against Senior Associate Athletic Director Dr. Sheila Hudson, when she reported Garrett’s alleged sexual harassment of younger female employees. Dr. Hudson, the plaintiff, claims that Garrett confined her in her office and demanded that she reveal the names of the women who complained about his behavior. He also threatened to transfer her to another campus department, according to the lawsuit.
Dr. Hudson, a former track and field Olympian, was hired by Cal State LA in 2002 as head coach of the track and field program. She was promoted to associate athletic director by 2008. In January 2016, the relationship between Hudson and her employer soured.
“In violation of Cal State LA’s own posting requirements, Cal State did not provide the presumptive athletic director, Dr. Hudson, or others with the opportunity to apply for the athletic director’s position,” according to the plaintiff’s attorney, Nancy Abrolat. “Instead, the university actively recruited and hired controversial figure Mike Garrett as its athletic director.”
According to the lawsuit, Garrett, upon his hire, started calling the female employees working under him, including Dr. Hudson, “Babe,” “Sweetheart,” “Love,” and “Legs.” Garrett allegedly told at least one student employee, “I love you” and “I could kiss you.”
Abrolat further claimed that the University’s Human Resources department “justified Garrett’s conduct and warned Dr. Hudson against voicing her complaints.
“Dr. Hudson complained to university administrators about various gender and Title IX concerns, including gender pay inequity at the university. Cal State LA has paid virtually all female employees in the athletics department, including Dr. Hudson, less than their male counterparts in substantially similar positions, reports the suit. Dr. Hudson provided a pay equity report to correct these and other Title IX violations, but Cal State LA is claimed to have ignored the disparities, the lawsuit alleges. Dr. Hudson filed the lawsuit as a last resort to correct the pay inequity and to eradicate sexual harassment and gender discrimination from the University, according to claims.
“The lawsuit further alleges that Cal State LA again ignored its own hiring policies when it appointed Garrett’s son, Daniel Garrett, as assistant athletic director in January 2016, and when Daryl Gross of Syracuse University scandal fame was provided a contract guaranteeing four years of employment in July 2016 to replace Garrett as Athletic Director after just six months on the job.”
In a statement, Dr. Hudson said that “when Garrett and Gross were handed the athletics director position without allowing me or other highly qualified women to even apply for the job, I believe this to be an affront to women. When I first brought forth my concerns about harassment and gender discrimination, I did so alone and quietly, using the university’s internal processes. But it quickly became clear to me that these disturbing and discriminatory practices would continue as long as this remained behind closed doors. I believe the best way to bring about positive change is to stand up and speak the truth out loud, even if you’re afraid. That’s what I’m doing now.”
The plaintiff is seeking a court order installing her as Cal State L.A.’s athletic director in addition to unspecified monetary damages.
The complaint is available at: http://documents.latimes.com/lawsuit-alleges-sexual-harassment-mike-garrett/
Meanwhile, the university has retained Ogletree Deakins to represent it. The firm issued the following statement to the media: “This malicious complaint is a reckless compilation of exaggerations and fabrications. It is without substance and will be repudiated by facts. Women hold most of Cal State L.A.’s top leadership positions.”
Garrett, a former star football player at the University of Southern California (USC), served as that school’s athletic director from 1993 to 2010.
