Menu
What's new
By:
Filters
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!

SI: CU Assistant Coach's Victim Seeks Justice

SINKRATZ said:
You're going to have to help me understand why it takes "an organization like this" longer than any other to do to right thing? He wasn't a union employee. Mac has a boss and an HR department like many other large organizations - why would the wheels move any slower here than other large organizations? Sorry, but that excuse falls flat to me.
Click to expand...

A number of factors. One is that no he wasn't a union employee, he was a state employee, have to comply with a whole different set of regulations and if it is done wrong he stands to collect a lot of money and potentially put M2 and RG into a situation of being called on to explain some things that make perfect sense except to the people they have to explain them to. The consequences for a mistake can run deep and long when you are dealing with state employees.

Second factor is that as I mentioned earlier this isn't the kind of situation that M2 or RG really specialize in. They are in respectively the football and sports marketing business, they are not HR people. We don't know if or when they consulted with the university HR people but I can tell you that working in educational organizations they don't respond with the same rapid answers I got when I was in the private sector.

As I stated they potentially could have moved a little faster but frankly not a lot. What is most important is that the ending result was what needed to happen and it wasn't reached because of outside pressures. They took their time and did the right thing.
 
MtnBuff said:
A number of factors. One is that no he wasn't a union employee, he was a state employee, have to comply with a whole different set of regulations and if it is done wrong he stands to collect a lot of money and potentially put M2 and RG into a situation of being called on to explain some things that make perfect sense except to the people they have to explain them to. The consequences for a mistake can run deep and long when you are dealing with state employees.

Second factor is that as I mentioned earlier this isn't the kind of situation that M2 or RG really specialize in. They are in respectively the football and sports marketing business, they are not HR people. We don't know if or when they consulted with the university HR people but I can tell you that working in educational organizations they don't respond with the same rapid answers I got when I was in the private sector.

As I stated they potentially could have moved a little faster but frankly not a lot. What is most important is that the ending result was what needed to happen and it wasn't reached because of outside pressures. They took their time and did the right thing.
Click to expand...
His being a state employee is irrelevant. And as for Mac and RG not "specializing" in this type of situation - are you serious? Not many people specialize in handling DV accusations, that's no excuse.

I hope you're wrong and they were more concerned about protecting the victim than they were about avoiding tough questions or a wrongful termination lawsuit if they had acted sooner out of an abundance of caution.
 
Shldr2Shldr said:
The mandatory reporting rules are specific. Must involve a Student, Faculty, or happen on Campus. Neither of those were the case here. Obviously that policy needs to be broadened and it looks like it is.
.
Click to expand...

To me this is an automatic Title XI reporting situation for any university employee. Allow the trained personnel of the Title XI office to decide if they move forward with a non criminal investigation and inform/provide contact information to the victim for legal action. Title XI is equiped to handle these situations and would advise if it was necessary immediatey call the authorities.
 
Gramburglar said:
To me this is an automatic Title XI reporting situation for any university employee. Allow the trained personnel of the Title XI office to decide if they move forward with a non criminal investigation and inform/provide contact information to the victim for legal action. Title XI is equiped to handle these situations and would advise if it was necessary immediatey call the authorities.
Click to expand...

Might've been worth asking them too, but after a little research it appears this doesn't fall under title 9. As far reaching as it is, it applies to student-student, employee-student and vice versa, and any other incident on campus. Jane's situation doesn't fall under that which probably added to the confusion. No excuse to not involve the OIEC though, imo.
 
TDbuff said:
Might've been worth asking them too, but after a little research it appears this doesn't fall under title 9. As far reaching as it is, it applies to student-student, employee-student and vice versa, and any other incident on campus. Jane's situation doesn't fall under that which probably added to the confusion. No excuse to not involve the OIEC though, imo.
Click to expand...
At the university I work for we had a mandatory workshop and the Title XI offices advice was if you had reasonable suspicion or had become aware of any situation move forward with a report and let them advise. There are some very serious situations surrounding this case and it would be hard to see a Title XI office take this lightly, while it may not be a direct issue they will provide the necessary contacts to address the situation. That said all the Title XI can do is provide information and it is up to the individuals to use that information.
 
SINKRATZ said:
It should lead to judgement against Mac. Unless the story is totally fabricated. When you hear concern that someone might kill himself or others, your first call shouldn't be to a f**king lawyer or the HR department, you call authorities immediately. Suppose Tumpkin had killed himself after that warning from Jane - do you think "well I immediately called my lawyer so I thought we were good" would have absolved Mac?

I like Mac and don't think he's a bad guy, but if the story is true this is a massive failing and now it's damage control time and Plati sucks at damage control.
Click to expand...
You must not read well. He called Rick George.
 
SINKRATZ said:
You're going to have to help me understand why it takes "an organization like this" longer than any other to do to right thing? He wasn't a union employee. Mac has a boss and an HR department like many other large organizations - why would the wheels move any slower here than other large organizations? Sorry, but that excuse falls flat to me.
Click to expand...
No PPO was granted until his the PPO was signed. Admitted guilt there. Until then they had to follow their own bylaws/compliance.

Not ideal but in government world you can't fire someone without facts or just cause. These were allegations which meant they couldn't be considered facts and thus no just cause. Pretty simple.
 
DiggerBuffs said:
No PPO was granted until his the PPO was signed. Admitted guilt there. Until then they had to follow their own bylaws/compliance.

Not ideal but in government world you can't fire someone without facts or just cause. These were allegations which meant they couldn't be considered facts and thus no just cause. Pretty simple.
Click to expand...
I agree. In addition, I don't think she suffered damages by any of the university's actions. Hopefully she finds happiness, Tumpkin faces the consequences of his actions if guilty, and CU students are exposed to jow the system protects victims. There is certainly a meaningful lesson for the team and really all young men.
 
DiggerBuffs said:
You must not read well. He called Rick George.
Click to expand...
As learned with Baylor reporting up is not the direct solution. The university offers independent non legal council for these reasons.

We are not privy to any details of suicide so speculation on the matter is irresponsible. The university took a due process approach and adequately followed through with the appropriate action. Unfortunately Plati coug'ed with SI and now the story had heightens in its profile.
 
Didn't read the whole thread, scanned the article posted up front. What exactly does the AD owe this woman? She separated from her abuser, assured Mac she was safe, why does she need to hear from the AD? Also, it sounds like she felt safer if Tumpkin kept his job. Why does she need a lawyer, except to protect her from Tumpkin and maybe sue Tumpkin?
 
Things that could've been handled better:

-Jane probably shouldn't have gone to Mac wanting him to do something, but that something being to not let Joe lose his job nor have the police involved. What did she want to happen? Unfortunately this is all too common of a response from the victim.

-pretty sure CU should've had 2 different lawyers since there's a clear optics issue at play since the guy is both seemingly a spokesman for the University, but also Tumpkin's defense attorney which, understandably, made her feel like they were all on Tumpkin's side and not hers. The call she made to Mac only to be followed up within the hour by Tumpkin's attorney looks really bad.

-Plati should shut the **** up if he doesn't actually know what happened, talking out of your ass as a PR guy isn't the play
 
The attorney tells MM not to respond to Jane's calls or texts because she could be trying to legally entangle him...regardless of her true intentions. Unfortunately, it makes him look super bad.

Wonder how often folks actually to to perpetuate entanglement schemes?
 
White_Rabbit said:
Things that could've been handled better:

-Jane probably shouldn't have gone to Mac wanting him to do something, but that something being to not let Joe lose his job nor have the police involved. What did she want to happen? Unfortunately this is all too common of a response from the victim.

-pretty sure CU should've had 2 different lawyers since there's a clear optics issue at play since the guy is both seemingly a spokesman for the University, but also Tumpkin's defense attorney which, understandably, made her feel like they were all on Tumpkin's side and not hers. The call she made to Mac only to be followed up within the hour by Tumpkin's attorney looks really bad.

-Plati should shut the **** up if he doesn't actually know what happened, talking out of your ass as a PR guy isn't the play
Click to expand...

According to her, the lawyer tried to explore if she was interested in hush money. Definitely implication that lawyer was representing the university (e.g. 'WE are all on eggshells trying to find out what you are going to do"). 1)Either she is misrepresenting what lawyer said, 2)lawyer is a total slimeball who makes it look like a Tumpkin and the University are the same entity, or 3) he does informally represent the university. Even if 2) the program's historical correlation with him is troubling. If 3) then the program is rotten and some higher ups are going to go. Don't think 3) is the case.
 
According to her, she didn't want the police involved or his life ruined - she wanted him to get help. But, after a month with no response from CU, she had no other option - they were not responsive or apparently doing anything. Sounds like MM and Co ended up screwing Tumpkin, even tho that wasn't their intent. It's like a nice neighbor approaching you about a fence/property line problem and you ignoring him - shouldn't be surprised to find you're being sued.
 
cu2x said:
According to her, she didn't want the police involved or his life ruined - she wanted him to get help. But, after a month with no response from CU, she had no other option - they were not responsive or apparently doing anything. Sounds like MM and Co ended up screwing Tumpkin, even tho that wasn't their intent. It's like a nice neighbor approaching you about a fence/property line problem and you ignoring him - shouldn't be surprised to find you're being sued.
Click to expand...
But again, dropping a bomb shell like this onto the university, what did she expect them to do? Of course they are going to lawyer up and not contact her. And there were legal stuff happening with the TRO so that was long before CUs "apparent" non activity.

I seriously don't get what she expected CU to do?
 
I don't know what she thought they would do - but ignoring her wasn't the best answer.
I would MM and RG should have had Tumpkin in immediately and asked him about it, w/o any warning. I think they would have known right then if there was a problem (T could be the best conman in the world, but I doubt it)
 
cu2x said:
I don't know what she thought they would do - but ignoring her wasn't the best answer.
I would MM and RG should have had Tumpkin in immediately and asked him about it, w/o any warning. I think they would have known right then if there was a problem (T could be the best conman in the world, but I doubt it)
Click to expand...
And they probably did. I have no doubt they didn't take it lightly. But at that point, with no police report, it's all hersay and he probably denied everything. And legal no doubt told them they couldn't contact her. So then what?? What's the best solution? Had she not wanted cops involved or him to lose his job? I have a feeling CU urged counciling and would have let him walk when his contract was up.
 
SINKRATZ said:
You're going to have to help me understand why it takes "an organization like this" longer than any other to do to right thing? He wasn't a union employee. Mac has a boss and an HR department like many other large organizations - why would the wheels move any slower here than other large organizations? Sorry, but that excuse falls flat to me.
Click to expand...
You think the wheels moved slowly in this case? If so I disagree.
 
Seems to me that when the GF went to Mac he was genuinely concerned (the first thing he asked her was, "Are you safe?"). Then he probably went to RG and at that point, maybe with lawyers involved, CU went in "law suit mode." You know, check the facts, don't trust anyone, be careful who you talk to, don't talk to the victim who may end up bringing suit, etc., etc.
 
assume that you own/manage a business that has lots of interaction w/ the public, depends on government funding and must, of course, follow all rules and regs. what do you do when a woman informs you one of your highly visible assistants has been abusing her (at a time when DV is getting major attention)?
you bring him in, confront him and if there is ANY sense he did act out - you suspend him. you do not ignore her for weeks.

totally boneheaded and you have to think RG, MM and DP talked about this before responding to espn.

I don't think they did anything very wrong - just very stupid
 
Hold on. You are innocent until proven guilty. Just because someone accuses you of something doesn't mean you did anything wrong and should be fired. So CU knew about the allegations before the bowl game....so what? Doesn't mean they were true and at the time you have to let the legal process play out. I don't see what we did wrong. He was accused of something, once we got more info we fired him
 
I'm sure they followed a process of some sort but I'm not familiar with it so I'm not gonna criticize them. With that said, I don't like seeing it scroll across ****ing espn either.
 
I guess the biggest problems I have with all of this is how there is a concerted effort to smear CU and create a story..... and there are a lot people on here getting stuck in the minutia of what occurred and using that as an opportunity to play Monday morning QB. BUT, the facts are that Tumpkin is the bad guy, not CU, not MM, not RG. CU was drug into this and responded very quickly whenever they had an actual actionable item. MOST importantly to me is that there was no perceived effort to cover this up....only to do what was right. Unfortunately, CU is being criticized for doing what was right for CU in some instances. Many people on here want MM to have been more pro active. I would bet he wanted to do more, and he had legal council telling him to stay the **** away and don't say a word. In situations like this, you do what your employer's legal council tells you to. In the end, CU handled a bunch of unknowns the best they could at the time, they didn't harm this woman, the man they fired did.

Unfortunate all around....and that's just how it works sometimes.

EDIT: For hurt feelings
 
Last edited:
I think it would also be weird for mac to hear that tumpkin might kill himself or someone else and then see him in person ( since she was back in Michigan) and probably see the same guy he had always seen since this was always under wraps. At that point he probably realized he isn't capable of handling the situation by himself because he doesn't really know what is going on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top