University of Arizona General Counsel Describes How Coach's Bribery Scandal Hurt School
Laura Todd Johnson painted her school as a victim, and not a benefactor, of a rogue basketball coach caught up in a bribery scandal. Experts say, as the NCAA looks at what role the university played, this depiction is crucial.
June 07, 2019 at 03:13 PM
4 minute read
University of Arizona general counsel Laura Todd Johnson took care in federal court to paint her school as a victim, and not a benefactor, of a rogue basketball coach caught up in a bribery scandal.
The depiction is crucial, experts say, as the National Collegiate Athletic Association looks at what role the university played and whether its athletic program should be penalized.
Johnson, the university's general counsel since 2012, forwarded a message seeking comment to Chris Sigurdson, vice president for communications, who said he and Johnson could not discuss the pending investigation. Even though the criminal trial is over, Sigurdson said, the ongoing NCAA probe is just as important to the school.
The probe centers on assistant basketball coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson, who was sentenced June 6 to three months in prison and two years' probation for accepting $20,000 in bribes from a sports agent.
At Richardson's hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a letter from Johnson was presented as a victim's impact statement.
When Richardson accepted the bribe money to steer young athletes toward the sports agent, the letter says, he “not only violated his employment agreement with the university, he knowingly betrayed the trust that the institution placed in him to act with honesty, integrity, and with the best interests of the student-athletes at the forefront.”
It says Richardson's arrest before the start of the 2017-2018 basketball season was devastating news and “caused enormous pain and disruption” to the team and the entire campus.
The notoriety has caused “significant damage to the reputation” of the university and its basketball program, and several highly regarded recruited athletes decommitted from the school. “The university is also facing the prospect of potentially significant sanctions and penalties from the NCAA flowing from the unlawful actions involved in this case,” it continues.
Besides the school itself, head basketball coach Sean Miller could face NCAA penalties if the association decides to hold him responsible as head of the sports program.
Johnson cited the “legal and financial ramifications” of responding to trial and grand jury subpoenas and providing extensive records to the U.S. Attorney's Office. She said the university also hired outside legal counsel “at significant expense” to conduct internal reviews and investigations, “and to guide the institution through an investigation by the NCAA enforcement staff, which is just now getting underway in the aftermath of the criminal trial.”
The letter says the school believes no money was ever paid to any student-athlete. “As we have to date, we intend to fully cooperate with the NCAA, to be transparent, and to provide whatever assistance may be necessary for the association to fully ascertain the actions of Mr. Richardson and determine the extent to which NCAA rules and bylaws may have been violated,” Johnson wrote.
Public records show that the university has paid over $1.4 million to two Phoenix law firms: Steptoe & Johnson to conduct an independent review of the charges against Richardson and related issues; and Jackson Lewis to guide the school through the NCAA investigation.
Gregg Clifton, co-chair of Jackson Lewis' collegiate and professional sports practice group in the Phoenix office, could not speak about this case. But in a March story about the NCAA's investigation into the college admissions scandal, Clifton discussed how he would advise a school involved in those legal issues.
He said one of the first things a school should do is to examine any potential liability.
“The NCAA part of this will be crucial,” said Clifton about the admissions scandal. “Has any of the bribe money benefited school programs directly? Was there even a trickle down that went into a school program?” he asked. If so, the university and its athletic program could be penalized.
In sentencing Richardson, who had sought no jail time, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos said he believed the university was victimized by Richardson's crime. Ramos cited several of the factors in Johnson's letter to support that belief.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllFormer Rutgers Law School Dean Replaces Hoffman as University General Counsel on Interim Basis
4 minute readAs Student Workers Unionize in Droves, NLRB Tries to Prevent Colleges' Privacy Concerns From Slowing Momentum
5 minute readDemise of Chevron Deference Likely Played a Major Role in Successful Title IX Challenges, Experts Say
4 minute readHarvard Hires Ex-Defense Department GC as Legal Chief at Tumultuous Time
3 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250