Stanford University men's swimming coach Skip Kenney has been charged with sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed against him and the university last week.
Kenney is in Atlanta coaching the U.S. men's Olympic swimming team, and Stanford officials released a statement claiming the lawsuit is a publicity ploy because of the Olympic spotlight.
Margery Tate, 51, of Menlo Park, is a former Stanford temporary employee who apparently struck up a friendship with Kenney in 1994 while she was a recreational swimmer at Stanford, said Terry Shepard, Stanford's director of communications.
Shepard said that Tate never worked directly for Kenney.
In her lawsuit, Tate claims that Kenney made unwanted sexual advances in 1994 and 1995 and then used his influence at Stanford to keep her from getting a permanent job and to have her removed from her temporary job.
Kenney has been the men's swimming coach at Stanford since 1979 and has won six national championships in that time.
"From everything we know, this is a non-case," said Shepard. "We believe that the only reason the suit was filed is because this university and its coach are in the limelight right now."
Tate's attorney, William Warhurst, said Tate "has been complaining and asking Stanford to take action since November of last year."
Tate's lawsuit claims that she complained about Kenney's behavior toward her several times but was not taken seriously by Stanford officials. The lawsuit further alleges that Stanford didn't act on her complaints for fear of damaging Kenney's prestigious role as an Olympic coach.
The lawsuit said that Tate sought counseling from ministers at Stanford Memorial Church and was told to talk to Stanford officials about filing a sexual harassment complaint.
Stanford revised its policy on dealing with sexual harassment in 1993 after several high-profile cases.
According to the lawsuit, Tate met with Leah Kaplan, university ombudsperson, on Nov. 24, 1995 and then with Laraine Zappart, the sexual harassment coordinating advisor, on Dec. 7, 1995. According to the lawsuit, neither official was interested in pursuing Tate's allegations of harassment. Both officials are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit includes transcripts of more than a dozen telephone messages that Kenney allegedly left on Tate's answering service. The messages indicate that Kenney had a strong romantic interest in Tate.
Tate's lawsuit asks for damages of more than $25,000.
--Don Kazak
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