A former Penn State fencing coach is suing the school, saying he was fired for correctly following new school policies enacted after the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Sandusky is a former assistant football coach at the university, now in prison for using his position to molest 10 children.
Emmanuil Kaidanov had coached the university's fencing teams for more than three decades when he was fired last year for allegedly retaliating against a whistleblower. Earlier in 2013, a school administrative worker reported seeing a member of the women's fencing team with a rolled up joint of marijuana. She called an anonymous tip hotline that was set up in the wake of the Sandusky scandal.The athlete says that what the employee thought was a joint was actually a bit of rolled up athletic tape. She passed a drug test and remained on the team.
According to the lawsuit, Kaidanov then approached the tipster and asked why she had not first come to him with the information. The school says he was inappropriately retaliating against the employee. However, Kaidanov's lawyers argue that their client was required to talk to the assistant under the university's new agreement with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), promising to investigate any unfounded accusations made by staff members against student athletes.
"This is a question of right and wrong," attorney Alvin de Levie told Reuters. "The mistake made by Penn State in terminating Coach Kaidanov can be remedied by restoring him to the position of head coach."
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