Morgantown, West Virginia – Former West Virginia Mountaineers head coach and native son Rich Rodriguez was accused of sexual harassment charges by a former administrative assistant at the University of Arizona.
In 2017, his assistant accused him of sexual harassment, creating a hostile workplace, and that Rodriguez had an affair that she was forced to keep secret.
Rodriguez had his name dragged through the mud for the past four years, but it turns out that it was a completely false claim. The lawsuit was secretly dismissed and Rodriguez was not forced to pay any settlement to his accuser.
According to Football Scoop, “The assistant chose not to cooperate with the school’s investigation, and the school ultimately found that they could not substantiate the allegations made. Arizona decided that they were uncomfortable with the ‘direction and climate of the football program’ at the time, and Rich Rod was let go at Arizona in early January of 2018. He left with an overall mark of 43-35 in six seasons and after winning 10 games over his final two seasons.”
Rodriguez’s attorney added the following: “This brings closure to a 4-year saga, affirming what we have maintained from the beginning — that the plaintiff fabricated claims of harassment in an attempt to exact a large financial settlement. The scheme failed. She did not receive a single cent from my client or UA. Unfortunately, Coach Rodriguez paid a steep reputational price as the subject of publicized false allegations. As an added cost, his wife, Rita, and their children, as well as former UA staff members and players, were unnecessarily harmed.”
