Part IV: Barta and field hockey

Editor's note: This is the fourth story in a series about Iowa athletics under director Gary Barta.

IOWA CITY - In a midsummer fortnight, Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta went from offering near assurances to his field hockey coaches that their jobs were safe to firing head coach Tracey Griesbaum.

What happened in that two-week period largely is speculative for outsiders. Griesbaum, one of Iowa's most successful female coaches, was terminated on Aug. 4, 2014, after a summerlong investigation conducted by UI's Department of Human Resources and the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. The probe found Griesbaum did not violate school policy but allegations describing an environment of 'fear, intimidation and/or mistreatment” led to her firing without cause. She received $200,000 in severance but adamantly disagrees with the findings.

A former player levied those charges against Griesbaum in April 2014. Similar accusations had surfaced over the years. In 2012, issues with a player led Griesbaum to revoke her academic scholarship. The player appealed, and in a settlement provided by UI officials to The Gazette, the school paid nearly $38,000 to the athlete for schooling costs and another $5,000 in attorney fees. Still, indications that summer suggested Griesbaum would be retained with tighter controls.

UI's two agencies launched their investigation on May 21, 2014, and provided Barta with an update on July 2. In a July 11, 2014, three-page memo to Griesbaum, Barta wrote the inquiry identified concerns. He assigned incoming deputy athletics director Gene Taylor as field hockey's supervisor. Barta outlined several aspects of future dealings with student-athletes, but there were no indications of any changes.

Barta sent an agenda to Griesbaum and other staffers before a meeting on July 21, 2014. Barta would brief them on the investigation and in the memo he thanked them 'for your patience and professionalism, and for your participation in the process.”

Less than two weeks later, after deliberations with President Sally Mason and other campus officials, Barta sat in his screened-in front porch and weighed his options. He described his decision-making process as 'extraordinarily difficult.” While multiple sources suggest Mason ordered the firing, Barta took ownership. Mason was unavailable for comment.

'I said, ‘I have one of our more successful coaches on the one hand, and I have these serious allegations related to student-athlete well-being on the other,'” Barta recalled. 'I involved everybody you can imagine, HR, EOD, the president of the university, the Board of Regents were aware. Everybody was aware of what was going on. We all knew what the results were. We all knew that the decision had to be made. Ultimately, I made the recommendation. But it was fully supported by all the people I just mentioned.

'I knew either way it went it was going to be extremely challenging.”

Griesbaum's dismissal triggered an immediate uproar. Griesbaum was beloved by most of her former players. In 14 years as head coach, Griesbaum was 169-107. She led Iowa to three Big Ten Tournament titles, one regular season title and a Final Four appearance. Supporters were vocal and active in efforts to reinstate Griesbaum.

From parents holding signs at games to phone calls and letters by alumnae, most demanded the university investigate Barta and the athletics department for gender bias. Barta expected the backlash.

'I knew that whatever decision I made, it was going to be extremely difficult and extremely controversial,” he said. 'I expected there to be a lot of concern, questions. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk about it either way. But it was a very public decision and sometimes in a leadership role when you make a very public decision, you know it's going to create a lot of anxiety.”

The incident ignited a wave of legal maneuvering. Griesbaum retained Des Moines attorney Tom Newkirk. In correspondence with state Assistant Attorney General George Carroll - who represents the University of Iowa - Newkirk demanded UI investigate gender bias within the athletics department and reinstate Griesbaum. In response, Carroll wrote the school would not reinstate Griesbaum, not reinvestigate Griesbaum's firing and not review claims of gender bias. Newkirk then wrote the decision to fire Griesbaum was 'infected by double standards and likely implicit gender bias as well as other biases touching on sexual orientation.” He also wrote that Griesbaum's lost wages as a head coach and emotional harm from termination approach $3 million.

Claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation came to the forefront last December when Griesbaum's partner, Iowa's senior associate athletics director Jane Meyer, was reassigned from athletics to UI's facilities department. Meyer joined athletics in 2001 and served as the No. 2 athletics official until Taylor's hiring. Barta said Meyer and Griesbaum's relationship didn't factor into his decision to fire Griesbaum. Some people may view Meyer's position change as a form of intimidation to prevent Griesbaum from filing a lawsuit.

'The attorney general's office made a recommendation,” Barta said regarding Meyer's transfer. '(Meyer is) still employed. She's been reassigned on the campus, and that's where it sits.”

In February, four players fired a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging their Title IX rights were violated because of Griesbaum's firing. They accuse the university of investigating complaints for men and women differently and the athletics department of holding women's coaches to a higher standard than their male counterparts. Five women's coaches were either fired or their contracts not renewed under Barta.

In a May 22 letter sent to UI President Sally Mason, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights wrote it will review a sexual discrimination complaint. It remains under investigation. The federal agency oversees Title IX, a law that requires gender equity in federally funded educational programs.

Monday, Newkirk told The Gazette that Griesbaum already has filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and intends to sue the university. Multiple sources told The Gazette that Meyer also plans to sue.

In a statement, the university announced it intends to cooperate with the investigation and contends Griesbaum's firing was not gender-based.

'UI Director of Athletics Gary Barta decided to remove Tracy Griesbaum after an investigation conducted by the UI Department of Human Resources and the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity which did not find violations of specific UI policy, but did describe a team environment of 'fear, intimidation, and/or mistreatment by Coach Griesbaum,” according to UI's statement.

'The investigation was in response to multiple complaints of harassment and mistreatment from student-athletes in the field hockey program over a period of several years.

Whether Barta's decision was right or wrong, it continues to receive heavy scrutiny.

'I made the decision based on the facts I had,” Barta said. 'It had nothing to do with gender. It had nothing to do with anything else other than whether I thought Tracey could remain in that leadership role. The answer was no, again, with a lot of counsel and a lot of advice.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com