The University of California, Berkeley has fired an assistant basketball coach after learning that he made unwanted sexual advances toward a reporter covering the team.
Yann Hufnagel was terminated after an investigation revealed that he had violated the school’s sexual harassment policy.
Hufnagel “acknowledged making repeated sexual innuendos to Complainant via electronic communication — including suggesting her participation in a three-way sexual encounter with him,” according to the report.
The coach and the reporter came into contact because the reporter relied on Hufnagel as her unofficially designated contact within the team. The relationship took a turn for the worse in November 2014 when the coach initiated what the reporter described as a period of bi-weekly sexual harassment. The reporter filed a formal complaint in the summer of 2015 leading to the investigation.
The report noted that the coach’s “conduct was pervasive in that it continued over a six-month span and consists of at least one severe incident in which Respondent caused Complainant to feel scared and physically trapped in an enclosed space controlled by Respondent while he repeatedly propositioned her for sex despite her refusals and declinations. In this way, Respondent’s conduct was objectively intimidating, hostile, or offensive — repeatedly propositioning Complainant for sex and, in some cases, suggesting that her participation in sex with Respondent would grant her greater access to parts of the sports world in Respondent’s control.”
After filing a complaint with Cal’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination, “the Respondent ceased providing information to Complainant and as Respondent was the singular source for obtaining information pertinent to Complainant’s specific assignment, (the) Complainant was no longer able to perform her job and was let go.”
In announcing his termination, the university noted that “California’s head men’s basketball coach, Cuonzo Martin, has initiated termination proceedings under University of California policy against assistant coach, Yann Hufnagel. Effective immediately, Hufnagel has been relieved of his duties pending the outcome of the termination process.”
Shortly thereafter, Hufnagel disputed the charges and said he was “in the process of hiring a legal team to exonerate my name.”
Coach Challenges University’s Findings
That “process” was played out in the public on April 4 with the help of Mary McNamara of Swanson & McNamara law firm.
“We urge University officials to move quickly to remove the cloud over Yann Hufnagel so that he can move forward with his coaching career and get back to doing what he loves,” McNamara said in a press release. “The University has wronged an innocent person, and it must correct its error.”
The attorney further claimed that they met with UC Berkeley on March 23 and “laid out extensive evidence that clearly proves Hufnagel’s innocence in allegations by an off-campus female sports reporter that he harassed her through text messages. No claims of physical contact were made.
“New evidence from Hufnagel’s legal team demonstrates the reporter fabricated the story she presented to UC investigators by selectively choosing the texts she provided and by withholding essential information in the investigation. Hufnagel’s attorneys provided the University the full record of text messages between the parties. The evidence completely contradicts her claim that she was the unwilling recipient of sexual innuendo because the texts show she was actively engaged and most often the initiator of text message conversations.
“The record also shows that at no time during the six-month period at issue did Hufnagel withhold information from the sports reporter; in fact, he went out of his way to help the reporter every time she requested information, thus debunking her claims that he used this information as leverage.”
