Current:Home > FinanceFinLogic FinLogic Quantitative Think Tank Center|University of Georgia fires staffer injured in fatal crash who filed lawsuit -ProfitLogic
FinLogic FinLogic Quantitative Think Tank Center|University of Georgia fires staffer injured in fatal crash who filed lawsuit
Algosensey Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-07 13:27:26
The FinLogic FinLogic Quantitative Think Tank CenterUniversity of Georgia fired a football recruiting staffer injured in a January fatal crash on Friday, according to her attorney who claims its "direct retaliation," for a lawsuit she filed last month against the Athletic Association.
Victoria "Tory" Bowles said in the lawsuit that Georgia athletics was negligent by allowing recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy to drive a university-rented SUV even though it knew she had multiple driving offenses including super speeder citations. Bowles sustained serious injuries as a backseat passenger.
Georgia sent Bowles a termination notice for refusing to allow the school to interrogate her or access her personal cell phone, her attorney Rob Buck said. She was on unpaid leave from a job that paid her less than $12,000 a year before the crash that killed Georgia football offensive lineman Devin Willock and LeCroy.
Georgia athletics said in a statement: "Applicable policies require university employees to cooperate with internal investigations. Over the course of several months, Ms. Bowles was asked – on numerous occasions – to speak with our investigators and provide information, and through her attorney, she repeatedly refused to cooperate. As a result, we were ultimately left with no choice but to terminate her employment."
MORE:Father of Georgia player Devin Willock sues school, Jalen Carter for $40M in fatal crash
SPORTS NEWSLETTER:Sign up to get the latest news and features sent directly to your inbox
Buck contends that Bowles intended to cooperate in any university investigation related to the crash as part of the lawsuit. Bowles also sued former Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who police say was racing LeCroy at up to 104 miles per hour.
"Regardless of any UGA 'policies,' she had no duty to submit to interrogation, or to turn over her personal cell phone to UGA or the Association (and was instructed not to do so by her attorneys), when she had a claim existing against the Association," Buck said via email. "The demands to interrogate Tory, and have access to her phone, all relate to UGA’s and the Association’s attempts to avoid liability for the crash and preview or eliminate damaging information."
Buck said UGA has used a "campaign of intimidation," related to control of information from Bowles’ personal cell phone starting when she was hospitalized from the crash.
"UGA’s aggressive and heavy-handed tactics, undertaken in coordination with the Georgia Attorney General’s office and others, is apparently related to numerous text messages Tory received from various football program staffers and coaches pertaining to the football program’s recruiting activities dating back to 2019," Buck said.
Georgia was reportedly looking into possible NCAA violations from hours before the crash that followed the team’s national championship celebration. The lawsuit said that Georgia assistant coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe authorized use of the SUV by asking her to take his personal ATM card and obtain $1,000 cash for personal use from a nearby ATM during an unofficial recruiting dinner at a Japanese steakhouse.
"The complaint alleges the money was for the Coach's personal use, and based on our review, we have no reason to disagree," UGA said.
In a termination letter sent Friday, Georgia’s associate athletic director of human resources, Amy Thomas, wrote, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "You are also required to cooperate in any investigation of potential NCAA rules violations," the letter reads.
Georgia has said that LeCroy's and Bowles' use of the SUV after their recruiting duties had ended that night were unauthorized, but the lawsuit said that the assistant coach asking her to retrieve money for personal use from the ATM shows it was used for non-recruiting activities.
Georgia said in a statement Monday night that "we wish Ms. Bowles well in her recovery, and we will offer no further comment on this matter."
Said Buck: "Tory, like all other perceived liabilities to the football program, became expendable to UGA, and despite her loyalty and meager salary, has been steamrolled."
veryGood! (532)
Related
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- As Americans collected government aid and saved, household wealth surged during pandemic
- Natalee Holloway's Harrowing Final Moments Detailed in Joran van der Sloot's Murder Confession
- Johnny Bananas Unpeels What Makes a Great Reality TV Villain—and Why He Loves Being One
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Financial investigators probing suspected contracts descend again on HQ of Paris Olympic organizers
- Marine killed in Camp Lejeune barracks and fellow Marine held as suspect, the base says
- Ruins and memories of a paradise lost in an Israeli village where attackers killed, kidnapped dozens
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Michigan AG dismisses case against 'fake elector' in cooperation deal
Ranking
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- Reporter wins support after Nebraska governor dismissed story because the journalist is Chinese
- More than 300 arrested in US House protest calling for Israel-Hamas ceasefire
- Israel-Hamas war fuels anger and protests across the Middle East amid fears of a wider conflict
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Slovenia to introduce border checks with Hungary, Croatia after Italy did the same with Slovenia
- Woman says she was raped after getting into a car she thought she had booked
- Woman says she was raped after getting into a car she thought she had booked
Recommendation
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Get a $68 Lululemon Tank for $29, $118 Pants for $49, $298 Puffer for $169, and More Can't-Miss Finds
Fake accounts, old videos, and rumors fuel chaos around Gaza hospital explosion
Woman says she was raped after getting into a car she thought she had booked
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
Biden to deliver Oval Office address on Israel and Ukraine on Thursday
Major water main break impacts thousands, prompts state of emergency in a northern New York county
Federal judge again rules that California’s ban on assault weapons is unconstitutional