Woman accusing ex-Colorado coach of abuse files $3.5M claim vs. school
The woman accusing former Colorado coach Joe Tumpkin of years of domestic abuse has filed a claim against the school alleging that Colorado officials didn’t act properly when informed of her accusations.
Per multiple outlets including the Boulder Daily Camera, the woman is asking for $5,000 a day in damages spanning the timeframe she was allegedly abused by Tumpkin. The total sum is over $3.5 million.
“We are prepared to have a jury determine an appropriate amount for the injuries — physical and emotional — sustained,” the woman’s attorney Peter Ginsburg told the Daily Camera.
The woman has said that Colorado failed to act promptly when she told officials at the school — including Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre — of what was happening.
Tumpkin resigned in January — three weeks after he was suspended by the school — and was charged with five felonies and three misdemeanors regarding the accusations. The woman filed a restraining order Dec. 30 and said Tumpkin had assaulted her multiple times throughout their relationship from February 2015 to after the Buffaloes’ win over Washington State in the 2016 season.
Tumpkin served as Colorado’s interim defensive coordinator for the team’s Alamo Bowl loss to Oklahoma State. The woman said she told MacIntyre of the allegations against his assistant coach four weeks before his suspension. The timeline also means that MacIntyre knew of the woman’s claims when he promoted Tumpkin to be the team’s interim DC in place of Jim Leavitt, who had left for Oregon.
She told Sports Illustrated that she first informed MacIntyre on Dec. 9 and had a 30+ minute phone conversation with the coach. Colorado said no action was taken immediately after the woman’s report because there was no restraining order, charges or other documentation regarding the allegations at the time the info was learned.
Colorado hired external counsel to complete an investigation regarding the athletic department’s handling of the claims. The report is complete and the school’s regents have asked president Bruce Benson to make a final decision regarding the contents of the report. The investigation was done by two lawyers who were with Pepper Hamilton in the fall of 2015 and helped work on the firm’s investigation at Baylor.
MacIntyre has agreed to a contract extension with the school and the extension is expected to be formally approved by the regents in June.
For more Colorado news, visit CUSportsNation.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
