Minnesota athletics official takes leave amid Norwood Teague investigation
Another Minnesota athletics official is under investigation.
According to the Star Tribune, Mike Ellis, an associate athletic director under former Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague, has “voluntarily” agreed to a leave as the sexual harassment and discrimination investigation into Teague continues. Teague resigned in August after university employees filed complaints of sexual harassment.
According to the Star-Tribune, five anonymous complaints against Ellis have been received since Teague’s Aug. 7 resignation.
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A prior complaint against Ellis had been filed in Jan. 2013, but “was closed without any disciplinary actions.” A university spokesman confirmed to the Star Tribune that one of the recent complaints levied against Ellis “relates to the same information” in the Jan. 2013 complaint.
The Star Tribune has a copy of an anonymous complaint sent to U President Eric Kaler about Ellis and Teague on Aug. 10. The complaint, purportedly from members of the U’s “senior athletic staff,” alleges that Ellis had pornographic images of college-aged women on his cellphone and shared them with Teague and others in December 2012 at the Gophers bowl game in Houston, Texas.
The complaint says that when a senior member of the U’s athletics department and a member of the Gopher Radio Network Team “made it known they were offended by the graphic images, that person was immediately shunned by the new senior administrators,” including Teague and Ellis. “A few days after returning from the bowl trip, this athletic administrator was shockingly fired for ‘reorganization purposes’ a move that very much troubled the rest of the athletic staff,” the August complaint says.
Teague brought Ellis with him to Minnesota from their former positions at Virginia Commonwealth and named him “senior associate athletic director and administrator of the men’s basketball and wrestling programs.” Per the Star Tribune, Ellis was also “in charge of equipment management, soccer, women’s golf and the M-Club, a group of varsity athletes who’ve letter in their sports."
Ellis did not respond to the Star Tribune’s requests for comment.
For more Minnesota news, GopherIllustrated.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
