Les Miles should have been fired from LSU for ‘inappropriate behavior’, said Joe Alleva in 2013 e-mail | News

Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended dismissing former football coach Les Miles for cause in 2013 because of “inappropriate behavior” involving allegations of sexual harassment with former students.

The recommendation was detailed in the 262-page report released by Husch Blackwell on Friday, the independent law firm LSU hired to investigate the university’s procedures in cases of sexual misconduct and its Title IX policies.

The months-long investigation ended up leading to a number of personnel and policy changes at LSU, and interim President Tom Galligan announced Friday morning that the university is briefly suspending Deputy Executive Sports Director Verge Ausberry and the director without pay. senior sports associate Miriam Segar based on the findings of a law firm’s investigation into the handling of complaints of sexual misconduct.

But Husch Blackwell also found that Miles was investigated by the Taylor Porter law firm hired by LSU in 2013, and found emails that showed that Alleva, the top authority in the athletic department, felt that the investigation’s findings were enough to fire Miles .

Miles had been accused of kissing a student twice, “unwanted touch”, telling her that he was attracted to her and suggesting that they go together to a hotel or condo. Miles has repeatedly denied kissing the student, but some of the other allegations explored in Taylor Porter’s investigation remain secret since they have been fully edited.

Several LSU athletic department officials also said that Miles insisted that LSU hire “attractive, blond and fit” female students to work on recruitment, according to Taylor Porter’s investigation, and Miles was eventually banned from having individual meetings or interactions with student staff.

Miles was only fired from LSU after a disappointing start to the 2016 season, and his final discipline was imposed by supervisors who ordered him to stop texting, calling and texting student staff, the investigation concluded. LSU also ordered the coach to stop hiring female students to look after their children and to stop being alone with them. He was also required to attend eight one-hour sessions that he had to pay for and to appear with a lawyer.

But Alleva, who was later ousted by LSU in 2019, felt that there should be greater consequences. He sent an email to former LSU Chancellor William Jenkins on April 19, 2013 about Miles’ investigation and the allegations against him.

“I think the continuity of his job needs to be taken seriously,” wrote Alleva. “When reviewing the use of a secret personal phone, texting, the fact that I have already warned you against this type of behavior, the off-campus nighttime encounter, etc., I am very concerned about the future.”

Husch Blackwell’s investigators were unable to locate a response to the email, and Alleva did not return messages for comment on Friday – as the former sports director did not return messages from this newspaper for several weeks.

Alleva also sent an email to former LSU president F. King Alexander on June 21, 2013 who stated that he believed people are “innocent until proven guilty”, but “in this case, I believe he is guilty of insubordination, inappropriate behavior, putting the university, athletics department and football program at great risk. “

“I think we have a reason,” adds Alleva, “I specifically told him not to text, call or be alone with any student workers and he obviously didn’t listen. I know there are many possible outcomes and many risks anyway. , but I believe it is in the long-term interest to take a break. “

Husch Blackwell investigators were also unable to find an answer to that email.

Those on the circuit in 2013 included former LSU board of supervisors chairman Hank Danos, president-elect Bobby Yarborough, athletic committee chairman Stanley Jacobs, former general counsel Shelby McKenzie, Alleva and current associate senior athletic director Miriam Segar.

In exploring potential punishments, the Taylor Porter report noted that Miles could only be disciplined in “very limited circumstances” due to his contract.

The clause that seemed to apply was one that said that Miles should behave at all times “with LSU’s high moral, ethical and academic standards” and not participate in “serious misconduct” that could impact the LSU football program and your reputation.

Sought to comment on Thursday, Yarborough, who no longer serves on the Board of Supervisors, said the discipline LSU agreed with Miles was “the right decision at the time” given the facts presented by the law firm.

“Without due cause, what can you do to make sure that the situation has changed? That the situation would not happen again?” Yarborough said. “We felt – at least me – that, given the facts, the recommendations and the guarantees that they were being followed, it was a step in the right direction.”

When LSU hired the Taylor Porter law firm to investigate Miles’ conduct, the campus as a whole had no idea what was going on. It took eight years, a second law firm investigation into how LSU handled sexual harassment complaints and a USA Today lawsuit – which was the first to receive a copy of the investigation on Thursday – to unearth the charges against Miles.

Taylor Porter’s report, which The Advocate also received, goes into detail about the various ways in which LSU lawyers and employees worked to ensure that it remained secret, with all parties agreeing that they would never release the document unless under a court order.

Now that the Taylor Porter report has been discovered, Husch Blackwell investigators noted in their report that “it is difficult to determine significantly” the impact the university has dealt with Les Miles’ climate investigation within the athletics department, but they note “that was certainly not positive.”

“We are not in a position to offer an opinion on whether the allegations against him are true or not,” the report said. Instead, they examined the question of whether LSU adequately responded to the report against a “powerful member” of the athletic department.

“The answer is ‘no’,” said the report.

An unidentified person interviewed by the company, who the report only reveals to be a member of the “longtime” football team, said the Miles saga created a culture in which protecting athletics “kind of became normal”.

“You just don’t talk about it and say nothing,” said the official to investigators, “you kind of go, because we are protecting LSU, we are protecting our brand, we are protecting our head coach, we are protecting this, we love LSU , then we will be loyal to LSU, so we will do what we can to help try to fix it. “

The apparent culture of silencing within LSU’s athletic department had a negative impact on the mental health of at least one employee.

The Husch Blackwell report also notes that, following the 2013 investigation, Sharon Lewis, a longtime football operations officer who is now the associate athletic director for football recruiting and alumni relations, was so distressed with support from LSU management who had a “mental breakdown” and received mental health treatment that LSU athletes paid for.

Lewis also said that Miles and several other athletics officials “became hostile to her”. The allegations were repeatedly reported by Lewis, says the Husch Blackwell report, but she felt that her reports “got nowhere”.

She told investigators that her “worst nightmare” happened when a student

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