Incoming Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann had been involved in a discrimination lawsuit while serving as an administrator at Louisville Unviersity, the Associated Press reported. The lawsuit involved an assistant track coach who said she had been fired after complaining to human resources.
This news already compounds a hard week for Hermann, even after being named the new AD at Rutgers. Hermann also was accused of mental and verbal abuse by former players while she was the volleyball coach at the University of Tennessee.
Rutgers hired Hermann months after their former basketball coach Mike Rice was fired in April for also physically and verbally abusing his players, which had been covered-up for months. Former athletic director Tim Pernetti was forced to resign for his handling of the problem.
In her introductory press conference as new Rutgers AD, Julie Hermann, answered NBC's Brian Thompson regarding a 1997 lawsuit alleging she discouraged her then assistant coach, Ginger Hineline, from being pregnant.
Hermann also denied the existence of a "wedding video" that Hineline references in the suit.
The discrimination lawsuit against Hermann involved the former assistant men's and women's track coach Mary Banker who says she was let go in 2008 after she brought allegations of sex and gender discrimination to Hermann and then human resources. She was the executive athletic director for Louisville at the time.
While Hermann testified at a 2010 trial in the case, the jury found in Banker's favor, and awarded her $300,000 for mental and emotional distress. The university appealed and the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned the verdict, the AP reported. The case is currently before the Kentucky Supreme Court.
On Monday, Hermann said that she has no plans to resign, and Rutgers President Barchi insisted that the university was standing behind her - despite opposition from the New York media.
The past two months have been an embarassment for Rutgers, as their other sports coaches were embroiled in controversy. The university's new basketball coach Eddie Jordan said they he earned a degree from Rutgers, which he never did, as he did not graduate. Their men's lacrosse coach Brian Brecht was suspended for verbally abusing his players.
New Jersey officals have come down hard on the university for its slew of scandals, and for not protecting its students.
"This is becoming Comedy Central," former Governor Richard Codey said, while also calling for the ouster of Rutgers president Robert Barchi.
"It's an embarrassment to the students and alumni of a great university and it's time Mr. Barchi takes his show on the road."
Despite the controversies, and bad press, Hermann has no intention to resign.
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