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Stanford soccer head coach Troy Taylor has been accused of bullying and belittling feminine athletic staffers, in accordance with a prolonged new report revealed by ESPN. Andrew Luck, who turned the final supervisor of the Stanford soccer program in November of final 12 months, has but to reply to the report. Neither has Condoleezza Rice, a particular adviser on athletics to the college president.
In response to the ESPN report by Xuan Thai, along with bullying and belittling feminine athletic staffers, Troy Taylor has additionally been accused of searching for “to have an NCAA compliance officer eliminated after she warned him of guidelines violations and repeatedly made ‘inappropriate’ feedback to a different lady about her look.”
These revelations have been made in paperwork from two investigations into Troy Taylor that have been obtained by ESPN. Following the primary investigation, Taylor signed a warning letter on Feb. 14, 2024, acknowledging he may very well be fired if his inappropriate conduct continued. A second investigation that ended on July 24, 2024 listed further complaints, however the soccer coach was not fired and is at the moment nonetheless with Stanford.
The investigations started after a number of staff filed complaints towards Taylor for what they known as hostile and aggressive habits, in addition to private assaults, the experiences stated. The varsity employed Kate Weaver Patterson, of KWP Consulting & Mediation, to analyze in spring 2023.
The second investigation cited proof “that that is an ongoing sample of regarding habits by Coach Taylor.” It was carried out final June and July by Timothy O’Brien, senior counsel for the Libby, O’Brien, Kingsley & Champion regulation agency in Maine. O’Brien, who has suggested a number of Division I and Energy 5 applications, stated in his report that he has by no means encountered “this palpable stage of animosity and disdain” for a college compliance workplace.
“Even in the course of the interview with me, when speaking about compliance points, Coach Taylor’s tone was forceful and aggressive,” O’Brien wrote.
He known as Taylor’s remedy of the workforce’s compliance officer “inappropriate, discriminatory on the premise of her intercourse,” saying it had a “important damaging impression” on the staffer. O’Brien concluded that Taylor retaliated towards the compliance staffer by “searching for her elimination from her assigned duties” after she raised considerations about NCAA guidelines violations associated to unlawful practices and participant eligibility.
O’Brien outlined attainable disciplinary procedures, together with termination, below NCAA bylaws if an worker retaliates, “reminiscent of intimidating, threatening, or harassing a person who has raised a declare.”
“I willingly complied with the investigations, accepted the suggestions that got here out of them, and used them as a studying alternative to develop in management and the way I work together with others,” Taylor stated in an announcement launched on Wednesday by Stanford. “I sit up for persevering with to work collaboratively and collegially with my colleagues in order that we will obtain success for our soccer program collectively.”
Whereas normal supervisor Andrew Luck has been silent on the matter, a college spokesperson instructed ESPN, “Stanford believes in upholding the best requirements of habits within the office. The College acquired complaints concerning Coach Taylor and a 3rd get together investigated the matter completely. Final summer season, the College took applicable measures, Coach Taylor acquired teaching, and he has dedicated to nurturing the respectful working surroundings that’s important to the success of all our athletics applications.”
Ann Killion of the native San Francisco Chronicle is asking for Andrew Luck, or somebody at Stanford, to “do the best factor.”
“Taylor’s assertion, studying like an AI-generated script for regret, claimed he used the investigations as ‘a studying alternative,’” she wrote.
“He actually didn’t use the primary investigation as a studying alternative. The second investigation discovered that Taylor’s habits was ‘an ongoing sample,’ and the lawyer conducting the inquiry stated he had by no means earlier than encountered ‘this palpable stage of animosity and disdain’ for a college compliance workplace.
“Apparently Stanford’s excessive requirements of ‘studying’ aren’t relevant to Taylor.”
