Fired UI Athletics IT director, accused of enticing teen, eligible for unemployment benefits

IOWA CITY — A former University of Iowa Athletics IT support consultant who — after 12 years on the job — was placed on paid administrative leave in January following his arrest on suspicion of enticing a minor to have sex is able to collect unemployment benefits, according to an administrative law judge.

That’s because what led to his March 11 firing was not disqualifying job-related misconduct — but rather the punishable offense of transferring his complimentary employee tickets for women’s basketball games to his adult son, who then sold them on the open market via a third-party selling website.

“(UI Athletics) has a ticket policy regarding complimentary tickets issued to staff,” according to an administrative law judge decision. “This policy allows employees to transfer these tickets to family members, but expressly forbids sale to third party websites.

“The consequence of doing so relates to loss of ticket privileges. No employment-related consequence is stated in the policy.”

When Mark J. Sevcik, 66, told his UI superiors in March that his son was the one who sold his complimentary Hawkeye women’s basketball tickets to games against Michigan on Feb. 15, Illinois on Feb. 17, and Ohio State on Feb. 18, he was on paid administrative leave following his Jan. 29 arrest on suspicion of two felony counts of enticing a minor for sex and three aggravated misdemeanor counts of telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor.

That criminal case remains ongoing, as does a separate simple misdemeanor charge of interference with official acts that Sevcik faces after investigators on Jan. 3 presented him with a search warrant while at McDonald’s and tried to confiscate his phone.

“(Sevcik) pulled away from officers and tried concealing his phone,” arresting officers wrote in their report. “(Sevcik) attempted to shut off his cellphone and (he) had to be physically restrained to obtain his cellphone.”

January arrest

The investigation that led to Sevcik’s arrest began a year ago on Aug. 21, 2023, when an undercover officer started chatting online with a person who used the name “Groot!!” and said he wanted to be friends, according to a search warrant application.

Posing as a 14-year-old girl, the undercover officer gave a phone number to “Groot!!” — identifying as a white male over 30 who lived in Cedar Rapids but traveled to Iowa City often. They communicated over the coming months, sharing explicit material, according to the warrant application.

“Groot!!” eventually suggested meeting in person, while pursuing a separate relationship with another undercover officer also posing as a teenage girl.

Using the phone numbers and usernames, investigators tracked down a Gmail address associated with Sevcik. Officers obtained more evidence of his identity when he bought women’s underwear for one of the teens and then sent her an Amazon.com confirmation that included his name and address.

“‘Groot!!’ agreed to meet (the undercover officer) the week of Jan. 1, 2024, to provide (the officer) with the underwear,” according to the warrant application, reporting he also sent a picture of himself, “which confirmed that ‘Groot!!’ is Mark Sevcik.”

Officers arrested him Jan. 29, and he pleaded not guilty in March.

‘Credibility of the witnesses’

As an Iowa Athletics assistant information technology director and help desk supervisor, Sevcik was making $62,830 at the time of his arrest.

In mid-February, while on paid leave following his arrest, Sevcik talked to his adult son about giving him his complimentary women’s basketball tickets “for the University of Iowa’s historic season led by one of its most iconic athletes,” according to an administrative law judge’s review of his case for unemployment benefits.

Sevcik told investigators he thought his son was going to use the tickets to attend in person and so logged into the ticket application on his son’s phone and then handed it back to him.

In March, an associate athletics director of human resources received information that Sevcik had transferred his tickets for sale on the open market. When asked about it, Sevcik said he didn’t know it was happening because the sale-confirmation emails were going to his spam folder.

On March 11, UI fired Sevcik for violating its policies by providing his son his login and password information and allowing his son to sell the tickets on the open market.

But an administrative law judge found — taking Sevcik at his word — his actions did not amount to “disqualifying misconduct.”

“The decision in this case rests, at least in part, on the credibility of the witnesses,” according to the administrative law judge’s decision.

“After assessing the credibility of the witnesses who testified during the hearing, reviewing the exhibits submitted by the parties, considering the applicable factors listed above, and using her own common sense and experience, the administrative law judge finds the claimant’s version of events to be more credible than the employer’s recollection of those events,” the judge wrote. “Specifically, I find the claimant credible that he logged in on his son’s phone … I also find it credible that the claimant’s spam folder concealed his son’s transfer of the tickets.”

Disqualifying misconduct, according to the judge, could include lying on a job application; knowingly breaking a company rule; intentionally breaking company property; drinking alcohol or doing drugs on company property; coming to work under the influence; doing anything that endangers the safety of others; and incarceration for a misdemeanor or felony conviction.

The university argued Sevcik should be fired under two theories, one being the ticket transfer to a third-party seller site and the second being his sharing of login information and password.

The judge rebuffed both assertions, starting with the first assertion Sevcik’s actions amounted to a fireable offense.

“The employer’s policy states only the loss of privileges to ticket access as a potential punishment,” according to the decision.

Regarding his login sharing, the judge found Sevcik’s decision to log in on his son’s phone didn’t violate “the spirit of these rules.”

“Under either theory, the employer cannot show the claimant engaged in disqualifying misconduct,” the judge wrote.

Unemployment benefits are paid from the Iowa State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, supported solely by a “special tax on employers.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com