By Max Botwinick, GWU Law, Prospective J.D. Candidate 2024
Former University of Louisville Deputy General Counsel Amy Shoemaker has sued her former employer, claiming she suffered retaliation and ultimately lost her job because she went against her boss’ wishes and reported illegal conduct within the basketball program.
The full complaint can be viewed here: https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/wdrb.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/22/122a2dd6-0166-11ed-9fdf-fbeffc1a2eb7/62cc9f9f5b1d1.pdf.pdf
UL has been dealing with numerous scandals and criminal allegations for the past five years. The issues within the basketball program have created immense turmoil within the university’s infrastructure and impacted the program’s ability to compete at the highest level. Furthermore, the illegal activities as well as NCAA violations have cost multiple people their jobs and even led to the university having its 2014 national championship title vacated.
In 2017, the university fired hall of fame head coach Rick Pitino and hired Chris Mack to run the program. Coach Mack brought in a new assistant coaching staff, which included Dino Gaudio. Despite these hires, the on-court struggles persisted. After years of continued irrelevance, Coach Mack wanted to make changes and decided not to renew Gaudio’s contract.
Coach Mack sought legal advice from the athletics director, who then asked for Shoemaker’s advice. Shoemaker advised the coach to speak with Gaudio in front of another university official, so that another witness would be present for the conversation. However, Coach Mack completely disregarded her advice and spoke to Coach Gaudio alone. Their conversation allegedly became contentious, and Gaudio attempted to extort Coach Mack and the program via the threat of leaking known NCAA violations within the program. However, Coach Mack was secretly recording him and shared this recording with Shoemaker and other high-ranking officials in the athletic department.
Upon hearing this recording, Shoemaker felt an obligation, both as an attorney under the Clery Act and as a UL official, to report the actions and recordings to the campus police. Shoemaker knew the actions taken by Gaudio were illegal and wanted to share the details of the situation with the FBI. The campus police contacted the FBI, and there was an investigation into Gaudio’s conduct. Ultimately, Gaudio pled guilty to multiple federal crimes stemming from the recording that Shoemaker turned in to the authorities.
The next morning, the alleged backlash began. UL President Neeli Bendapudi was reportedly extremely frustrated and angry that the police were made aware of the situation. Bendapudi was frustrated allegedly because she feared the negative publicity for the university as a result of the police investigation. The administration focused on protecting the public perception of the university rather than its obligation to prevent and report illegal activity. A few days later, Shoemaker allegedly received more backlash from Bendapudi’s chief of staff. He claimed that Shoemaker had no right to report the extortion attempt to campus police, as it was not within her job description and was a decision that was above her pay grade, according to the complaint.
The backlash against Shoemaker did not stop there. A few weeks later, during a video conference call between Shoemaker, President Bendapudi, and other school officials, President Bendapudi allegedly berated Shoemaker for reporting the extortion attempt in front of her colleagues. This outburst set off a chain reaction within the institution, which allegedly led to a reduction in most of Shoemaker’s responsibilities. Shoemaker was excluded from important meetings, client calls, general counsel group calendars, and team meetings, according to the complaint. Furthermore, Shoemaker lost a channel for communication with President Bendapudi and other high-ranking Louisville officials. Before Shoemaker reported the extortion, these tasks and activities all fell under her job description and list of daily responsibilities. Eventually, President Bendapudi’s continued displeasure with Shoemaker led to her allegedly being frozen out in the workplace.
The onslaught allegedly continued. Shoemaker received an official demotion, which finalized her reduced responsibilities and officially lowered her salary. There was no evidence of poor work product that would support sufficient cause for Shoemaker’s demotion, she alleged in the complaint. Instead, this demotion allegedly stemmed from a grudge held by President Bendapudi against Shoemaker for responding to her ethical duty as an attorney and reporting illegal activity to the police.
Ultimately, Shoemaker claims she was forced to quit her job with UL. She lost two terms of sabbatical pay, incurred relocation costs, and suffered mental and emotional anguish by relocating away from her family and the community where she had spent most of her life, according to the complaint.
