The latest iteration of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Louisiana State University and former athletics officials accuses LSU running backs coach Frank Wilson of repeated inappropriate behavior toward female students and workers.
The second amended complaint by Sharon Lewis, a former LSU associate athletic director, does not name Wilson as a defendant. But it does say that in 2013, prior to Wilson’s current role as running backs coach, he entered Lewis’ office, closed the door and asked her to touch his genitalia. Athletic officials Verge Ausberry and Miriam Segar failed to investigate the incident, the complaint states.
“Sometime in 2013, Frank Wilson kissed a female employee without her permission, and (the) plaintiff reported the incident to Miriam Segar and Verge Ausberry, and they failed to investigate or take any action,” the amended federal lawsuit filed March 4 in the Middle District of Louisiana says. “From 2012 to 2016, Frank Wilson sexually harassed (the) plaintiff, female students and workers, and (the) plaintiff reported this conduct to Ausberry and Segar and they failed to investigate or take any action.”
LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard III disputed the allegations against Wilson, who left the university for a time but was hired back in January.
“We are unaware of any prior allegations against Frank Wilson, and there is no evidence that any such allegations were ever reported to LSU officials,” Ballard said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record. “Further, none of these allegations was shared during the highly visible, independent Title IX review that LSU initiated last year.”
The allegations are part of an ongoing lawsuit alleging that former LSU head coach Les Miles sexually harassed students working in his department. The complaint accuses numerous LSU officials of retaliating against Lewis, an African-American, ignoring her reports of Title IX violations at the university and discrimination. She is asking the court for a jury trial as well as compensatory damages and punitive damages..
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan previously threw out multiple charges the plaintiff filed against LSU under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The latest charges allege Lewis was a victim of specific acts of sexual harassment and not simply someone who tried to report such incidents to other university officials.