UPDATE re: Rhonda Faehn
U-M has pulled the plug:
Check out @theblockm’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/theblockm/status/1084634669327532032?s=09
January 13th, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
Sam Webb had Bev Plocki on his show on Thursday with no mention of Faehn. She is scheduled to be on every Thursday at 7:25 a.m. Should be an interesting segment this week. Sam will have to cover this tomorrow and in Thursday's interview.
January 13th, 2019 at 11:01 PM ^
Sam can’t go too far off message or he loses access.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:49 AM ^
In Sam's defense, nobody knew that Michigan had hired Faehn at the time. It wasn't spotted until Friday's meet in Tuscaloosa, where a local Alabama reporter noticed her on the floor and made a comment about it to a Michigan Daily reporter.
This is the central part of the issue here--Faehn was hired but the hiring was never officially announced until after the Michigan Daily mentioned it on Friday night. Michigan put out a hasty press release on Saturday morning, listed her as an "Assistant Coach" on the official website, and then announced her firing as a "consultant" on Sunday.
January 13th, 2019 at 10:44 PM ^
As i said yesterday, and will say tomorrow, warde is a dope who should never had been hired.
January 13th, 2019 at 11:11 PM ^
It is incredible to me that ANYONE in UM Athletic leadership would think it a good idea to hire a former executive of USAG, one of the most toxic cultures of our time.
The insularity suggested by this tone deaf hire and subsequent PR clown show demands serious consideration of changes in the Athletic Department. By no means should this end now.
January 13th, 2019 at 11:11 PM ^
Outrage culture strikes again. What will you be offended by next?
January 13th, 2019 at 11:44 PM ^
Plenty of fish in the sea, why pick the one that reeks?
January 14th, 2019 at 7:38 AM ^
The older generations complete inability to understand they can fix problems instead of boiling everything down to quitting or suffering through the flaws.
January 13th, 2019 at 11:15 PM ^
Ahhh 2019, where you’re guilty til proven innocent, and a bunch of strangers hiding behind the anonymity of the internet can prevent someone from gainful employment solely on the basis of proximity to something bad.
January 13th, 2019 at 11:23 PM ^
Rut Roh Billy, be careful. They’ll downvote you! Lol
January 13th, 2019 at 11:27 PM ^
Except in this case it was hands on operation of an organization that tolerated and enabled sexual assault of children. Worthy of outrage? Unworthy of association with the institution I care deeply about? I think so.
January 14th, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
Yeah, this notion that she's being strung up when the point is not to GIVE HER A JOB, especially in such a ham-fisted way. . . that's pushing into PSU- and MSU fan territory. (More evidence of the kind of hysteria they could have foreseen might arise, both sides.) It's the UM and Manuel who did her a disservice. If there really was due diligence, there certainly wasn't due preparation or anticipation of the outcry over the hire. That's malfeasance no matter what side you are on. Until someone shows otherwise, it looks like they tried to sneak her in the back door.
If there was a true, valid defense to be made they certainly didn't have that waiting--or offer it up front--so really they served her poorly coming and going. And the outcry from some of the victims, including DenHollander and McCaul, throws that into serious doubt.
January 14th, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
except she is innocent which is why she is not in jail. that doesn't mean your required to give her a job. people get fired all the time for far more mundane things. she did not do enough to protect innocent children. she did the bare minimum to not go to jail.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:02 AM ^
Just an outsider's view - but Manuel isn't being an effective leader here.
Not necessarily because he hired her. But rather in terms of HOW he hired her. You don't let someone else (namely the Michigan Daily) break the story of her hiring! You have to announce it yourself and own it and be confident in the controversial decision you're making.
That's really Leadership 101.
January 14th, 2019 at 6:07 AM ^
Yeah I think that's the takeaway. It's not necessarily whether Faehn was or was not worthy of being hired, it was how badly the university handled the hiring. After screaming about MSU being tone deaf, it's really amazing Michigan thought sneaking her onto the staff was going to work and wasn't going to draw a huge backlash. Really poor leadership, PR, whatever you want to call it from the AD.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:42 AM ^
I'm also amazed that Manuel didn't realize it's literally impossible to "sneak" Faehn onto the staff.
Gymnastics is far behind Football in terms of visibility, but it certainly has some publicity. A few meets a year are on BTN/ESPNU/et cetera, and there are home meets, and U-M usually makes the NCAA, et cetera.
So, even if nobody had noticed Friday - someone was eventually going to notice Faehn was around the program. This wasn't some back-office job where "hiding" her was theoretically possible.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
Nah, man. There are definitely people here--a whole lot of them--that are 100% certain that Faehn is not worthy of being involved with gymnastics ever again. The baby's getting thrown out with the bathwater here and its hard for me to see it any other way. And, the proportion of people who are willing to do so (while stating erroneous information, mind you) is deeply concerning.
There could have been a path forward for Faehn at Michigan to the mutual benefits of both but the Athletic Department lit that path on fire in the way they mishandled the situation from start to finish.
This is the SECOND time, Feahn has been [adversely affected, ahem] by the errors of her superiors.
January 14th, 2019 at 4:59 PM ^
she has blame too. not enough blame to be behind bars but certainly enough blame. three gymnasts told her what had gone down. I get reporting it up and letting it be if it was just one, but by the time the third person tells her, how she doesn't call the cops is a straight up mystery.
she was not a low lever staffer, she was the head.
This is no different than JoePa telling an AD and going, welp did my job
January 16th, 2019 at 10:36 AM ^
She didn't let it rest there. It was she that reported it to the FBI. Its not even close to the JoePa scenario.
Keep in mind that at the time, people were still trying to figure out if there was a legitimate medical procedure happening. Some of Nassar's abuse occurred with the victim's parents present in the room... that's how fucked up this situation was/is.
The vast majority of the people skewering Feahn over her actions don't have anywhere close to the clarity on the facts as they assume to have. They hear Nassar, they hear accusations from Aly Raisman, and that's enough for them.
January 14th, 2019 at 5:03 AM ^
This is just sad all the way around. It seems Miss Faehn did what nobody else did in the Nassar scandal, report it to the authorities. She followed the reporting protocol, bad or not, and when her superiors ignored it she went to the FBI. The only thing any of you have to throw at her is maybe she didn't do it fast enough to your liking? She'd been there less than a month and this got thrown in her lap. I sure hope you all live the pious lives that you expect everyone else to live, because your expectations are ridiculous. From the sounds of it through the court records, this poor lady is also a secondary victim. She is now an untouchable employee or the outrage mob will burn whomever hires her down. All because she has the audacity to accept what she thought was a dream job. And lets not forget, she actually reported Nassar, to her superiors and the FBI. He got caught because she accepted that dream job, and now she gets to pay the price. All so that you can say Michigan is "clean".
January 14th, 2019 at 11:43 AM ^
You just fuckin nailed it. Well said and spot on.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
Hear, hear.
January 14th, 2019 at 8:01 PM ^
No I would say Rachael Denhollander did what nobody else did. She fought and clawed publicly and screamed from the rooftops until finally other brave women spoke out. The whole time that was happening this coach sat silent even though she knew it all was true.
She sent one email. She did the minimum to not be guilty in the toxic culture that existed.
January 14th, 2019 at 8:58 AM ^
Good job making it crystal clear that you would never want anyone working for the University that would allow this to happen. Bravo!
Now let them hire her back so that all the real victims can start the healing process.
Someone tell Warde what it means to "get out in front of something" .
January 14th, 2019 at 9:34 AM ^
Even if she was railroaded and did her job, why should Michigan hire her? It's like UT hiring Schiano. Sure he's a good enough coach and likely didn't do anything wrong, but there are so many alternatives that are just as good and aren't mentioned in any scandal.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:04 AM ^
At this point I think the main reason is the victims think this is a good way to help the healing process.
January 14th, 2019 at 11:53 AM ^
Interesting the actual people on the team seem to indicate they supported the hiring:
I realize the optics of the situation looked bad, but many things look much different from the outside in..
January 14th, 2019 at 5:00 PM ^
and people / former players still support parterno
January 14th, 2019 at 12:01 PM ^
Since I work in this space and deal with situations like this frequently, you all get a piece of my mind. Feel free to ignore, neg, or whatever.
I'm not going to defend the University/AD actions...they screwed this up, and I don't think any disagree with that.
The relevant facts as far as the testimony and emails/texts corroborate that as soon as Faehn was given allegations she forwarded it to her boss, who informed her he was informing the relevant authorities and again the FBI, that he told her he was instructed (by the authorities) not to talk about the allegations- which is exactly what the FBI would say given an active investigation, and that Faegre Baker Daniels LLP soon got involved (probably on a call as soon as she elevated the concern) and assisted an internal investigation.
As the VP of USA Gymnastics I will eat a bowl of lemons if she was not under a contract that stipulated she bring all allegations through the company to report to proper authorities. This is how it's done, so the company can present as clear of a picture as possible, especially with a national organization subject to so many different jurisdictions. The organization ensures mandatory reporting is fulfilled, and she had this assurance in writing that it was done.
Had she gone directly above her boss she opens herself up to liability. Had she brought this to MSU after her boss says he reported it to the authorities and that they are prohibited from talking about this, she could be charged with interfering in an active investigation, or possibly witness tampering. If you still believe she should have done more, know that this is one of the most frequently used accusations against whistleblowers, when it should almost never be used at all. Secondly, her response was subjectively and objectively reasonable given the situation, and her knowledge/experience.
This lady appears to have been one of the very few people who did the right thing in a difficult situation between USA Gymnastics, MSU, and Faegre Baker Daniels, LLP (a firm with a reputation for protecting large interests at the expense of truth/doing what's right).
While there are some well thought out comments, many appear to have gone with the lazy man's outrage.
Outrage that she did not do enough, but no outrage at the actual people and organizations that appeared to do nothing or actively try to bury it (multiple lawyers/ firms, everyone at MSU, some parents, USA Gymnastic's CEO, and even the FBI it seems). If you think this is a horrible situation, contact your congressperson to complain about the FBI/MSU. File a FOIA, write and publish. If you are a member of an applicable state bar, raise the issue that it looks like some named lawyers were working to hide evidence of criminal conduct. They can and should investigate. MSU acted so horribly at all levels, that I'm not satisfied until they are kicked out of the conference; lobby the Board of Regents for that. Vote.
If you are too lazy to do any of that, at least support the very few whistleblowers who had the courage to do what was right, even though it ultimately cost them a job (Faehn was fired for being willing to testify and provide evidence to congress, and probably for reporting to begin, and not allowing the investigator to meet athletes without parents present, all things the evidence supports her employer was not happy with). She made a hard, correct choice in a difficult situation. Rather than make the wrong, easy choice to shun her, we need more people like this around our children and athletes. Go Blue!
January 14th, 2019 at 12:16 PM ^
I'm an attorney. I would eat every lemon in the world if someone in her situation who reported to the FBI after reporting internally was prosecuted for witness tampering, obstruction of justice, etc. That's the fear-mongering employers use to shut employees up, and it's fucking trash for you to put it out there as genuine. Under most state laws, she's protected from civil liability for reporting. The only liability is that she would lose her job. That's still a serious penalty and shouldn't be understated, but it's the only significant penalty she may have incurred.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:28 PM ^
You misunderstood or perhaps I'm not clear. Either way, counselor, I've responded below.
There's no possible issue with bringing it to the FBI...I did not say that so please re-read. It's in talking to other organizations or people such as MSU once it is an active investigation and it has been relayed to her from law enforcement not to talk about it...This is what she reasonably believed the situation was.
Now to respond more broadly, you can always bring potential crimes to the FBI, no matter what contract you have signed (not applicable to government clearance issues which have a separate reporting tool(s)). Secondly, she would probably be fine if she had alerted MSU generally, but with not with 100% certainty given good Samaritan laws and Michigan's whistleblower law which protects disclosures to public entities. Given what we know of MSU's response, nassar would have found out, and yes, that can upset DOJ.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
No, I misunderstood. You said that talking to MSU could lead to potential charges, and I thought you said reporting it to law enforcement. That's my bad.
I don't know why anyone would think she ought to have contacted MSU. I think, and maybe I'm misunderstanding other's again, that most people think she should have independently reported to some law enforcement agency. That's what I think should have done and that's really the point of the mandatory reporting statutes-- to make sure that people go to law enforcement directly with information on abuse. That can sound easier in theory than it is in practice. But the failure to report that people charge her with is the failure to report to law enforcement, not to MSU.
I would add that casting her as a courageous whistle blower seems a bit much. She testified after shit had hit the fan and probably would have been subpenaed anyway.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
Yeah that's the interesting issue in this case for me; should she have also reported to the FBI or local police even though her boss said he had been doing so. Hindsight is 20/20, but she had no cause to suspect her boss was lying to her and he even put it in writing.
January 16th, 2019 at 11:58 AM ^
I'm not a gymnast or a lawyer or any other type of professional who would have anything to add to the actual behind-the-scenes stuff. However, I am someone who goes through a lot of airports and talks to a lot of people outside of Michigan. I've lost count of how many times people have asked me, a Michigan grad, what we were doing about that Nassar thing. Michigan v Michigan State is not something that everyone knows or cares about. Hiring someone who intersected with the Nassar scandal is just not a good move. We don't owe anyone a job or a consulting gig or a favor. Unless she was clearly a whistleblower and everyone knew her as the woman who blew the lid off the Nassar scandal, there's no way we should bring her on board.
To your other point about outrage, many of us just can't turn something we're angry about into a cause for personal activism. That level of activity is outside the realm of expertise and accessibility for a lot of people, and that doesn't make anyone lazy and their anger less legit. I don't know what everyone else is frustrated with, but my issue with this was that we hired her (in whatever capacity). What she did or didn't do has already been dealt with. Michigan handled it badly and maybe I'd feel differently if we had acted like we were proud of the hire. But I doubt it :/
Also I'd eat a bunch of those lemons for you if you could get MSU kicked out of the conference.
Hail!
January 14th, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
Brian's tweeting on this is embarrassing. If MSU, OSU, or PSU hired her he would be having a fit. Urban Meyer told Gene Smith about Zach Smith too, but I don't think he deserves a cookie for that. Just embarrassing. Yeah some gymnasts wanted her hired. Some others didn't. The outrage at the outrage just to try and look smarter than the "average joe" is pathetic.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
I responded to your misstatement above.
To your point here, there's no indication that Meyer disclosed anything or took more action, fought for the victim's rights, or generally did something right that his employer was against. He's not a whistleblowers and nobody thinks he deserves a cookie.
In fact, this is a completely false equivalency because there Meyer was 50% of the problem and actively sought to keep things under wraps.
January 14th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
What did she do to fight for victims rights? Tell the Senate that she wasn't at fault? Suggest they implement a chaperone program? She's testified to cover her ass and say that it was Penny's fault (see, e.g., https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2018/06/05/larry-nassar-abuse-case-usag-officials-shift-blame-new-testimony/672428002/) .
She's probably right that it was Penny's fault. But that doesn't make her some kind of hero. The jig was up at USA gymnastics by that point. It's not she broke the story that brought USAG down.
January 14th, 2019 at 1:43 PM ^
When she got complaints she asked around and proactively brought additional allegations to her boss.
When the investigator appeared to want to influence the victim statements/hide wrongdoing/who knows, she refused and made sure parents were present.
When her employer directed her not to attend a congressional hearing, not only did she go, but she also brought evidence. Could she have been subpoenad? Sure, but she wouldn't have been given all the people who refused to testify and weren't forced to go. Even if required, she would not have been forced to produce internal documents and private text messages as she did.
You could also talk about the chaperone program she implemented, but that's more reactionary, though it appears she had to fight for even that.
January 14th, 2019 at 3:37 PM ^
You're taking all that from what she said in her testimony and her notes about what she said. She brought evidence to exonerate herself. She didn't bring evidence with the purpose of uncovering the problems within USAG, see Rachael Denhollander on this. She produced documents and contemporaneous (and non-contemporaneous) notes that support her case that she was not responsible for what happened. It's not like she wrote to Congress to reveal what Nassar was doing. Folks like Sarah Klein didn't seem to think she was a hero for whistleblowing after the hearing, rather they thought that she was casting herself as a victim to avoid responsibility.
Also, she clearly thought she would be subpeonaed. From the article I referenced, "During that call, Faehn told Perry that she had been invited to speak during the Senate subcommittee hearing and that USA Gymnastics' chief legal officer had suggested she decline. Perry 'acted like she was surprised to hear that if I declined the invitation, I would be subpeonaed,' Faehn said." Again, she's acting to save her ass.
I'm sorry, but I have trouble viewing somebody who didn't report sexual assault as some kind of hero for going before Congress and saying it wasn't her fault.
January 14th, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^
Agree with most of this but...
She presented credible testimony, before Congress. Not only did she have emails, texts and notes to support her statements, but her statements made her boss look possibly criminally responsible, and while he was aware of what she said neither he nor USA Gymnastics disputed her statements.
The last paragraph makes invalid assumptions and then of course I'd agree with you. However she did report it and reasonably believed it was also reported to law enforcement. Secondly she's not a hero though it does take some courage to do what she did. Finally, she didn't simply tell Congress it wasn't her fault. She told them what she knew.
January 14th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
Personally I think the whole gymnastics program should be eliminated. It's just asking for trouble. The sport is all about the athletic and aesthetic exploitation of youngsters. I don't see what benefit there is for the university in running this program.
January 14th, 2019 at 7:26 PM ^
January 14th, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
Well this saga appears to have been a pretty big misstep by Warde Manuel.