Griesbaum’s attorney accuses Iowa of double standard

IOWA CITY - An attorney representing fired University of Iowa field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum accuses the athletics department of discrimination, according to correspondence obtained by The Gazette on Wednesday.

Des Moines attorney Thomas Newkirk, in a letter dated Sept. 29, wrote the athletics department has a double standard when dealing with female coaches. The letter was sent to assistant state attorney general George Carroll and also received by UI officials.

'The value of the case is because your client fired one of its best coaches (male or female) under circumstances that would never occur if she were male,” Newkirk wrote. 'If we ignore all the issues of bias or science on stereotypes, it comes down to that simple reality. Your client does not investigate or react to complaints about male coaches in the same way.

'Further, when you go back over the last five years to examine the removal of several other gay female coaches, most of whom were fired due to an administration's exaggerations of female player complains, a disturbing pattern appears.”

Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta fired Griesbaum, 48, without cause Aug. 4 after a summer-long investigation by UI Human Resources and the UI Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (EOD). Several former players accused Griesbaum of mental and verbal abuse. UI officials have declined to release a redacted version of the report, citing an exemption through state open records law and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Per her contract, Griesbaum received a $200,000 severance package. Lisa Cellucci, Griesbaum's former assistant, guides the field hockey program on an interim basis.

Since 2008, five women's coaches have left Iowa. Two were replaced by women (softball, golf) and two by men (rowing, volleyball). Field hockey is the other.

Griesbaum has yet to file a lawsuit or a civil rights complaint against the school, but that remains a possibility if a settlement is not reached. Former and current athletes as well as parents have flocked to Griesbaum's defense, and longtime field hockey trainer Faye Thompson resigned in protest of Griesbaum's firing. The current players wear T-shirts in warm-ups honoring Griesbaum, photos of which are posted on various social media platforms.

'We of course can file a complaint with the ICRC and file a lawsuit under Title IX at any time,” Newkirk wrote.

On Sept. 3, Newkirk requested Griesbaum's reinstatement in a letter sent to UI President Sally Mason. Newkirk wrote Griesbaum's firing was 'infected by double standards and likely implicit gender bias as well as other biases touching on her sexual orientation.” Among the remedies requested by Newkirk include suspending the termination and reexamining complaints lobbied against Griesbaum and other coaches. Newkirk also wanted to investigate the language and behavior of male coaches toward athletes.

Carroll replied to Newkirk on Sept. 12, writing the Griesbaum 'will not be reinstated,” the school will neither reopen the investigation into Griesbaum's firing nor look into 'implicit gender bias” in women's athletics. In a retort dated Sept. 18, Newkirk wrote that Griesbaum was unlikely to obtain another coaching job of comparable merit and her lost wages and emotional harm compute to nearly $3 million. Newkirk claimed a 'lack of substance to the player complaints, as well as an investigation into the termination of female coaches by Mr. Barta (several of whom were gay) over the last several years.”

Carroll responded to Newkirk's letter four days later, writing, 'the University's position has not changed.”

Iowa's field hockey program ranks seventh nationally and boasts a 7-2 record. Newkirk threatens the program will suffer without a settlement with Griesbaum.

'I fear your client has no clue of the firestorm that they have triggered,” he wrote Sept. 29. 'Your client is already inundated with letters, emails and Facebook posts of support. This is but the tip of the iceberg.

'Your client realizes it has gutted that program? It will survive for a year or two, but barriers to recruitment are already on their way.”

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