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SI: CU Assistant Coach's Victim Seeks Justice
- Thread starter TDbuff
- Start date
TheHaubbit
Member
There were rumblings that Mac and RG knew earlier, but going back to December....jeez.
Lukeasaurus
Well-Known Member
I dunno... 7 weeks from finding out until being fired (and 4 weeks until suspension) doesn't seem that long. They state (although briefly) that evidence was being compiled.
The spin makes it sound horrible though
The spin makes it sound horrible though
TheHaubbit
Member
Well, the guy who wrote it is a Prof at Nebraska...
Shocking.
Plati always gotta contribute too.
This is obviously written to sound bad. But I'm not quite sure that they did anything wrong. They probably should not be communicating with her outside of police and attorneys. They can't just fire a guy with no proof no police report no witnesses. She also said she knot felt safe as long as Tumpkin had a job. They let the process play out, didn't interfere, and once they had the facts did the right thing.
Agreed. The article is an obvious spin to really paint a bad picture of Mac, RG and the administration, but does anyone think for a second that DiStefano, of all people, would allow this to play out as it did if they weren't positive it needed to? Without proper evidence, or even close to all the facts, what were they supposed to do? Fire a guy for allegations and potentially face a wrongful termination suit in the event Joe was vindicated?
TDbuff
Club Member
The 3 screw-ups I see:
1. If Mac and RG didn't notify the title 9 coordinator immediately
2. They didn't seem to do anything until the media found out about the restraining order a couple weeks after the fact, why?
3. The Banashek guy seemed to make the situation worse, why was he the middleman here?
That said, sounds like a tough situation to navigate. She gives Mac a laundry list of abuse, but says not tell the cops and she doesn't want Joe to lose his job. Still seems like everyone dragged their feet on this until they had to do something. Amazes me with all the examples of poorly handled situations like this with victims of abuse that people still think they can act dumb and hope it'll take care of itself. I hope there's more to this story on CU's side.
1. If Mac and RG didn't notify the title 9 coordinator immediately
2. They didn't seem to do anything until the media found out about the restraining order a couple weeks after the fact, why?
3. The Banashek guy seemed to make the situation worse, why was he the middleman here?
That said, sounds like a tough situation to navigate. She gives Mac a laundry list of abuse, but says not tell the cops and she doesn't want Joe to lose his job. Still seems like everyone dragged their feet on this until they had to do something. Amazes me with all the examples of poorly handled situations like this with victims of abuse that people still think they can act dumb and hope it'll take care of itself. I hope there's more to this story on CU's side.
I honestly don't see anything wrong CU's perspective. This was an ugly situation that everyone went into and CU was put in a tough spot. Had she gone to the police, it would have been so much better.
Reading between the lines, it sounds to me like Mac was trying to figure out how best to deal with the situation when the schools attorneys told him to cut off all dialogue with her.
I agree the optics are bad. I'm not sure what Mac or RG could have done differently, though.
At the end of the day, Tumpkin was fired. Could things have been handled better? Yeah, probably. But once the lawyers get involved, it becomes a CYA thing for everybody involved.
By the way, her attorney isn't a Boulder attorney. He's from Longmont and is a Longmont City Councilman. He's a very stand-up guy.
I agree the optics are bad. I'm not sure what Mac or RG could have done differently, though.
At the end of the day, Tumpkin was fired. Could things have been handled better? Yeah, probably. But once the lawyers get involved, it becomes a CYA thing for everybody involved.
By the way, her attorney isn't a Boulder attorney. He's from Longmont and is a Longmont City Councilman. He's a very stand-up guy.
I grant that they were in a tough spot, but the second that Mac and RG lied about knowing what was going on, they put themselves right in the bullseye. If they had decided to make sure that his woman was safe, and then suspended Tumpkin immediately, they could have avoided this incoming ****storm.
Typical SI muckraking.
I guarantee you CU consulted with counsel and MikMac was told not to have anymore contact. As others observed, as soon as the TRO became a PRO, Tumpkins was dumped. And no doubt, he should have been. The fact MikMac knew of the allegations, with apparently no other evidence than a phone call, is not the kind of grounds one would use to terminate for cause, unless of course you are willing to be on the receiving end of a wrongful termination suit if the allegations are not true.
The victim calling MikMac put him in an untenable situation. Potentially run afoul of the employment and contractual relations of Tumpkins, or look like a cad in front of the PC media "because he knew and should have done something". What did he do? Exactly what he should have done, get counsel, report it to his boss and clam up. He had no first hand knowledge and speaking or acting on the report would have potentially harmed the victim or Tumpkin, depending on what the facts were. Once the facts were reasonably established, the correct course of action was taken.
The fact it didn't happen fast enough for SI is irrelevant, sort of like their rag.
I guarantee you CU consulted with counsel and MikMac was told not to have anymore contact. As others observed, as soon as the TRO became a PRO, Tumpkins was dumped. And no doubt, he should have been. The fact MikMac knew of the allegations, with apparently no other evidence than a phone call, is not the kind of grounds one would use to terminate for cause, unless of course you are willing to be on the receiving end of a wrongful termination suit if the allegations are not true.
The victim calling MikMac put him in an untenable situation. Potentially run afoul of the employment and contractual relations of Tumpkins, or look like a cad in front of the PC media "because he knew and should have done something". What did he do? Exactly what he should have done, get counsel, report it to his boss and clam up. He had no first hand knowledge and speaking or acting on the report would have potentially harmed the victim or Tumpkin, depending on what the facts were. Once the facts were reasonably established, the correct course of action was taken.
The fact it didn't happen fast enough for SI is irrelevant, sort of like their rag.
TDbuff
Club Member
Well she did, the restraining order was filed on the Dec. 20th, she texted Mac about it. 8 days later JT's still coaching for some reason.
JWP303
Well-Known Member
First, a lot of idiotic replies to this thread.
Second, maybe for one second put aside the legal ramifications and consider the human element? This woman felt trapped and was trying to escalate this to someone who could help her. Mac fell short of his responsibilities as a good and decent human.
Third, making Tumpkin interim coordinator is inexcusable and shameful given what Mac knew at that point.
Fourth, while I feel for this woman immensely and wouldn't for a moment cast her as the villain - she seemed to know she was putting Mac in a bad spot and did it anyway. That said - Mac could have done the right thing and immediately put her first, but he instead sought to protect his coach.
Fifth - Plati either deliberately lied and should resign immediately.Or George and Mac look even worse for not disclosing any of this through proper channels.
This is all so ****ed. We now take you live to Boulder...
Second, maybe for one second put aside the legal ramifications and consider the human element? This woman felt trapped and was trying to escalate this to someone who could help her. Mac fell short of his responsibilities as a good and decent human.
Third, making Tumpkin interim coordinator is inexcusable and shameful given what Mac knew at that point.
Fourth, while I feel for this woman immensely and wouldn't for a moment cast her as the villain - she seemed to know she was putting Mac in a bad spot and did it anyway. That said - Mac could have done the right thing and immediately put her first, but he instead sought to protect his coach.
Fifth - Plati either deliberately lied and should resign immediately.Or George and Mac look even worse for not disclosing any of this through proper channels.
This is all so ****ed. We now take you live to Boulder...
You don't put somebody immediately on leave based on accusations. He was named interim D.C. Because at the time he was the highest ranking memeber of the defensive staff.
Honestly, I know this looks bad, but what was CU supposed to do differently? I'd love it if Mac could have been more helpful to her, but she herself said she didn't want this to impact him... so what did she expect?
I'm not trying to blame the victim here. She deserves justice. Sometimes justice takes a while and doesn't come exactly the way we all want it to, though. At the end of the day, Tumpkin was fired and he has been criminally charged. He will probably be convicted. That's justice.
JWP303
Well-Known Member
That's an optimistic view. What it looks like to me is that they deliberately dragged their feet for as long as possible (while CU was receiving all of the good press) - totally shirking any leadership or basic human decency responsibilities in trying to help this victim. And rather than help the woman, they lawyered up and tried to make the problem go away... Only once it had reached the point of no return and they were forced to act did they do so. It's shameful.
I think CU could have not acted like they were blindsided by the Daily Camera article. Seems really dumb. They had a heads up that a TRO was going to be filed, so I do not think it is so out of line to argue there could have been more proactive in handling it.
I completely understand where you are coming from, and I had some of the same reactions when I read the article a second time.
However, the fact is that Plati lied to the media on the record about the department's knowledge of events. Either he was deceived by RG and Mac, or he lied in his official role as spokesman for the AD. Also, I agree with the post above that Mac should have just been a better human being. He was friends with this woman. He could have at least contacted her to let her know that the matter was going to lawyers, and that his main concern was that she just be safe.
I believe that Mac is a good person. He really screwed up here. The optics here are absolutely terrible.
I agree. Thats not very long. It sounds like things escalated (termination) pretty quickly once the investigation got rolling and legal got involved. I think a certain amount of deference is due the accused and the victim for a matter that was occurring outside the work place in their personal lives. But once the cops came along and had enough to charge him it was game over.
TDbuff
Club Member
Not a surprise that CU and Plati bungled another PR situation, no.
Was it the TRO being filed or the Daily Camera story reporting the TRO being filed what got him placed on leave? It seems like more of the latter than the former.
I agree the optics are awful. Part of that is the spin by the author, though. We will never know if Mac had wanted to contact her. I strongly suspect he did but was told not to in no uncertain terms. I hope he and the victim can reconcile in some way.
Plati's never met a PR issue he couldn't **** up
Was it written by Rielly?
So Mac and RG could have suspended Tumpkin a week and a half sooner. Is that the extent of what CU could/should have done here that would have been "right"? Other than Mac personally getting involved with the issue by ensuring that she was safe?