A former assistant to ex-UA football coach Rich Rodriguez, who was fired Tuesday night amid sexual misconduct allegations, is seeking $7.5 million for emotional distress, according to a notice of claim filed with the Arizona Attorney’s General’s Office on Dec. 28.
The claim, filed by the attorney for Melissa Wilhelmsen, alleges that Rodriguez forced her to help keep an affair secret from Rodriquez’s wife and later made sexual advances toward her. It also claims and that Rodriguez at one point typed up a book, called “The Hideaway Book,” which sought to establish secrecy within Rodriguez’s inner circle—including Wilhelmsen and then-assistants Charlie Ragle and Miguel Reveles.
The University of Arizona released a statement from UA President Robert C. Robbins and Athletic Director Dave Heeke Tuesday night announcing Rodriguez’s dismissal, saying that an independent investigation commissioned by the university could not substantiate Wilhelmsen’s original allegations, partly because she did not cooperate with the investigation.
But university officials decided to fire Rodriguez because “Arizona Athletics did become aware of information, both before and during the investigation, which caused it to be concerned with the direction and climate of the football program,” Robbins and Heeke said.
Wilhelmsen alleged that Rodriguez’s conduct veered from inappropriate to outright sexual harassment—including a request that she bring him his underwear from the equipment area and a conversation in which he told her his “preferred style of underwear ‘visually enhanced’ his genitalia when worn,” according to the claim.
Wilhelmsen also accused Rodriguez of touching the side of her breast, and then trying to kiss her during a meeting in January 2017, after telling her, “Whatever you need, I’m here for you.” The alleged incident occurred as Melissa and Jason were having marital troubles that stemmed from her stressful work environment, the claim said.
Wilhelmsen, according to the claim, tried to leave her role and join the athletic department’s development office after the kissing incident in March of 2017. She scheduled an appointment, but it was later canceled with no reason. She then tried to make another appointment a month later with the same person, but received no response, the claim said.
Wilhemsen said she felt trapped in her job with the Athletic Department because she feared for what would happen to her daughter—who also worked within the department and attended the UA at a discounted tuition rate because of Wilhemsen’s job, the claim said.
Wilhelmsen finally left the department in August for a non-University job, but was cornered by Rodriguez’s wife on her last day, before confessing to the truth about Rodriguez’s girlfriend, according to the claim.
Attorney Augustine B. Jimenez III, who represents Wilhelmsen, said in the claim that no public figure should be allowed to harass women with impunity.
“If this case were to go to trial, in the current climate where #MeToo is in the headlines on a daily basis, neither male nor female jurors would have any sympathy for a public figure who used his authority and power to oppress and degrade his female assistant in such ways. Undoubtedly, the verdict could be in the tens of millions of dollars because the jurors would want to send a message to such high-profile and highly paid coaches that such abuses of power are not acceptable,” Jimenez said.
In a statement on Twitter, Rodriquez admitted to an extramarital affair but said Wilhelmsen’s claims were “baseless and false” and vowed to “vigorously fight these fabricated and groundless claims.”
Read Wilhelmsen’s notice of claim for yourself here:
This article appears in Dec 28, 2017 – Jan 3, 2018.
U of A is so corrupt. Good to see “what goes around, comes right back around”. Good versus Evil. I hope all the other “evils” as well, go down. U of A thinks it is so “righteous”.
At what point does the investigation look back at AD Byrne? All of this was going on under his watch.
Many male UA sports/football fans (at least the ones that don’t already hate DickRod) are now reflexively disbelieving the accuser in this matter. This, of course, is a big part of the overall problem, and only helps to create a culture in which sexual harassment is tolerated, or at the very least goes unpunished.
Let’s be clear: Cases of false accusation of sexual harassment are very rare. This case shows why. This woman had everything to lose, including her own job, her daughter’s job, her daughter’s tuition break, her own reputation and career, etc. She had no faith in the institution to address the matter in any meaningful way, and for good reason. Most big universities are run like corporations now, and the bottom line is what matters most. Big-time university athletic programs are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and universities often do whatever it takes to protect their brand and that huge income stream, including hushing up or even covering up crimes and misbehavior by their athletes, coaches, etc. Internal investigations such as the one conducted by the UA into this matter are usually a joke, just exercises in damage control and coverup. No wonder the woman refused to cooperate.
So rather than pick an internal fight she had no hope of winning, this woman tried to extricate herself from the toxic situation while maintaining her employment at UA, and got nowhere and no support. So she eventually left the university. Apparently she then was emboldened by the dam breaking on sexual harassment lately and filed suit.
There are a couple of key things that must change going forward in order to solve this problem.
1. Men gotta stop acting like assholes!
2. When men inevitably do act like assholes, other men in positions of power must hold them accountable. It is not up to women to solve this problem, especially when it tends to be most rampant in situations where men wield a preponderance of power and women’s recourse is quite limited (politics, big-time sports, corporations, Hollywood, etc.).
3. Re: this particular context, the culture of secrecy around big-time university athletics must end. It only serves to create an environment in which impunity is the order of the day, and it perpetuates all sorts of bad things, including sexual harassment and sexual assault. Alas, don’t count on the mainstream media to help destroy that culture of secrecy. They’re really just cheerleaders for the home team, and they long ago stopped doing anything that remotely resembles investigative journalism when it comes to UA sports coverage. They have no interest in breaking any story that would damage the university brand or the athletics gravy train, which pumps millions of dollars into their coffers as well.