Tim Fader, formerly an award-winning wrestling coach at UW-Whitewater, was subjected to non-renewal of his contract (effective dismissal) with no satisfactory explanation, and with reason to think that UW-Whitewater had fired him for reporting a sexual assault allegation directly to the police. Fader’s termination came during a time – still ongoing – when UW-Whitewater was under federal investigation for its handling of other sexual assault complaints.

WISC-TV 3, Channel 3000, now reports on Fader’s Notice of Claim, in a story published online this evening:

Former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling coach has notified the state’s attorney general of his intent to sue a number of officials at the university for “improperly” dismissing him from his position and for continuing to stymie his efforts to find work.

Tim Fader failed a “Notice of Claim” this week, alleging that he was not renewed as the school’s wrestling coach in the summer of 2014 because he reported an alleged sexual assault committed by one of his recruits earlier last year directly to Whitewater Police and not to his supervisors on campus, per university policy. Fader asserts he’s been made a “scapegoat” because his situation arose shortly after the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education announced UW-W was one of 55 schools nationwide being investigated for how it handled sexual assault or harassment allegations

(Our law requires that one file a notice of intent to sue any state officials 60 days before legal action can begin. I have embedded the Notice of Claim below, so that one may read it in full.)

Attorney Stan Davis, a former UW System Regent, represents Fader. Attorney Davis observes that when Fader spoke to the police, he prevented UW-Whitewater’s officials from crafting a description of events at a time, and a pace, of their own choosing:

“He was the Division 3 Wrestling Coach of the Year and he is now unable to find a job,” said Fader’s lawyer, Stan Davis, a former UW System Regent. “It seems as though he’s being punished here for not giving the University the opportunity to decide how they were going to address, spin, handle this matter and that’s problematic.”

See, Former Coach Takes Step to Sue UW-Whitewater Officials @ Channel 3000.

Needless to say, in each case there may be people who are injured. That matters most, of course. Nearly as important as handling present injuries is inhibiting future victims or third-parties from reporting allegations for fear of doing so.

Attorney Davis sees this fundamental truth clearly:

His lawyer believes the impact Fader’s jobless situation could have on campuses throughout the state is why this remains so important.

“The chilling effect this could have on other faculty members who may be afraid to go to the police now if they become aware of something because Tim went to the police and he ends up losing his job,” Davis said. “It suggests (UW-W) didn’t want an outside agency to be aware of this until they decided what, if anything, they were going to do about it.

“Making a scapegoat of one person who actually handled the situation the way I think most people would have… does not do anything to help address this problem in the future.”

In fact, it’s hard to believe that reasonable people, aware of the importance of encouraging reporting, and genuinely believing in open reporting would not see as much.

I’ll have updates as this matter develops.

I would encourage readers to donate to the It’s On Us campaign, and to support these and other efforts to prevent sexual violence.

Those who have experienced sexual assault will find resources of support at www.notalone.com.

See, below, NOTICE OF CLAIM AND CLAIM PURSUANT TO 893.82, WIS. STATS:

Post updated 7.2.15 with video interview.