Current:Home > FinanceUniversity of Georgia fires staffer injured in fatal crash who filed lawsuit-InfoLens
University of Georgia fires staffer injured in fatal crash who filed lawsuit
View Date:2024-12-23 17:08:21
The University of Georgia fired a football recruiting staffer injured in a January fatal crash on Friday, according to her attorney who claims its "direct retaliation," for a lawsuit she filed last month against the Athletic Association.
Victoria "Tory" Bowles said in the lawsuit that Georgia athletics was negligent by allowing recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy to drive a university-rented SUV even though it knew she had multiple driving offenses including super speeder citations. Bowles sustained serious injuries as a backseat passenger.
Georgia sent Bowles a termination notice for refusing to allow the school to interrogate her or access her personal cell phone, her attorney Rob Buck said. She was on unpaid leave from a job that paid her less than $12,000 a year before the crash that killed Georgia football offensive lineman Devin Willock and LeCroy.
Georgia athletics said in a statement: "Applicable policies require university employees to cooperate with internal investigations. Over the course of several months, Ms. Bowles was asked – on numerous occasions – to speak with our investigators and provide information, and through her attorney, she repeatedly refused to cooperate. As a result, we were ultimately left with no choice but to terminate her employment."
MORE:Father of Georgia player Devin Willock sues school, Jalen Carter for $40M in fatal crash
SPORTS NEWSLETTER:Sign up to get the latest news and features sent directly to your inbox
Buck contends that Bowles intended to cooperate in any university investigation related to the crash as part of the lawsuit. Bowles also sued former Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who police say was racing LeCroy at up to 104 miles per hour.
"Regardless of any UGA 'policies,' she had no duty to submit to interrogation, or to turn over her personal cell phone to UGA or the Association (and was instructed not to do so by her attorneys), when she had a claim existing against the Association," Buck said via email. "The demands to interrogate Tory, and have access to her phone, all relate to UGA’s and the Association’s attempts to avoid liability for the crash and preview or eliminate damaging information."
Buck said UGA has used a "campaign of intimidation," related to control of information from Bowles’ personal cell phone starting when she was hospitalized from the crash.
"UGA’s aggressive and heavy-handed tactics, undertaken in coordination with the Georgia Attorney General’s office and others, is apparently related to numerous text messages Tory received from various football program staffers and coaches pertaining to the football program’s recruiting activities dating back to 2019," Buck said.
Georgia was reportedly looking into possible NCAA violations from hours before the crash that followed the team’s national championship celebration. The lawsuit said that Georgia assistant coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe authorized use of the SUV by asking her to take his personal ATM card and obtain $1,000 cash for personal use from a nearby ATM during an unofficial recruiting dinner at a Japanese steakhouse.
"The complaint alleges the money was for the Coach's personal use, and based on our review, we have no reason to disagree," UGA said.
In a termination letter sent Friday, Georgia’s associate athletic director of human resources, Amy Thomas, wrote, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "You are also required to cooperate in any investigation of potential NCAA rules violations," the letter reads.
Georgia has said that LeCroy's and Bowles' use of the SUV after their recruiting duties had ended that night were unauthorized, but the lawsuit said that the assistant coach asking her to retrieve money for personal use from the ATM shows it was used for non-recruiting activities.
Georgia said in a statement Monday night that "we wish Ms. Bowles well in her recovery, and we will offer no further comment on this matter."
Said Buck: "Tory, like all other perceived liabilities to the football program, became expendable to UGA, and despite her loyalty and meager salary, has been steamrolled."
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Georgia House Democrats shift toward new leaders after limited election gains
- The Wind Is Changing In Lake Tahoe, And That Could Help Firefighters
- 'A Code Red For Humanity:' Climate Change Is Getting Worse — Faster Than We Thought
- See Gossip Girl Alum Taylor Momsen's OMG-Worthy Return to the Steps of the Met
- South Carolina does not set a date for the next execution after requests for a holiday pause
- The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker And More Than 20 Other Species Have Gone Extinct
- Brooke Shields Reveals John F. Kennedy Jr.'s Less Than Chivalrous Reaction to Her Turning Him Down
- Heat is killing workers in the U.S. — and there are no federal rules to protect them
- Giuliani’s lawyers after $148M defamation judgment seek to withdraw from his case
- Jon Stewart Makes Surprise Return to The Daily Show Nearly 8 Years After Signing Off
Ranking
- 4 charged in Detroit street shooting that left 2 dead, 5 wounded
- Maine's Next Generation Of Lobstermen Brace For Unprecedented Change
- CDC to investigate swine flu virus behind woman's death in Brazil
- Kelly Ripa Promises A Lot of Surprises in Store for Ryan Seacrest's Final Week on Live
- Horoscopes Today, November 9, 2024
- Summertime And Vacationing Isn't Easy. Blame It On Climate Change
- Come and Get a Look at Our List of Selena Gomez's Best Songs
- Congress Is Debating Its Biggest Climate Change Bill Ever. Here's What's At Stake
Recommendation
-
Appeals Court Affirms Conviction of Everglades Scientist Accused of Stealing ‘Trade Secrets’
-
Robert Downey Jr. Shares Marvelously Rare Glimpse of His 3 Kids During Birthday Celebration
-
Laura Benanti Shares She Suffered Miscarriage While Performing in Front of 2,000 People Onstage
-
Manchin Calls On Democrats To Hit Pause On The $3.5 Trillion Budget Package
-
Steelers shoot for the moon ball, but will offense hold up or wilt in brutal final stretch?
-
Our Future On A Hotter Planet Means More Climate Disasters Happening Simultaneously
-
22 Dead, Many Missing After 17 Inches Of Rain In Tennessee
-
Khloe Kardashian Confirms Name of Her and Tristan Thompson’s Baby Boy Keeps With Family Tradition
Like
- Fighting conspiracy theories with comedy? That’s what the Onion hopes after its purchase of Infowars
- Wildfires Are Driving People Out Of Turkish Vacation Spots
- Argentina's junta used a plane to hurl dissident mothers and nuns to their deaths from the sky. Decades later, it returned home from Florida.