Sharon Lewis
An eight-person jury has dismissed Sharon Lewis’s 50-million dollar federal lawsuit against LSU. Lewis, who oversaw LSU’s football recruiting department, claims she was wrongfully terminated and retaliated against for reporting sexual misconduct complaints involving former head coach Les Miles. Tiger Rag Editor Todd Horne says executive deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry was one of the last witnesses to take the stand
“Verge Ausberry called her a racist, said she was a racist.”
Horne said Ausberry testified that Lewis had trouble when white people told her no or disagreed with her. Lewis was one of 40 workers in the football department let go when Brian Kelly was hired in December 2021.
The jury deliberated for only three hours. Lewis’ attorney Larry English says they are disappointed by the outcome.
“We think that the evidence was compelling, and we felt like we put on a great case, we felt like we proved every element of our case,” said English.
English says they will consider their legal options moving forward.
Lewis also claims running backs coach Frank Wilson, who worked on Miles staff from 2010 to 2015 and then hired back by Kelly in 2022, exposed himself to Lewis and also forcefully kissed a student intern on the lips. Horne says Wilson denied those allegations on the witness stand.
“Sad he never did this, never did that, never did that, and his premise and basis for not doing it was that he was a family man. He was married, had four children, and he would never behave like that in any situation.”
Horne said during cross-examination by Lewis’ attorneys, Wilson admitted to fathering a child out of wedlock while separated but still married to his wife.
LSU’s statement:
We are pleased that after a full review of the evidence, the jury ruled in our favor. The simple truth is that Ms. Lewis was never retaliated or discriminated against. She was let go along with 41 other football staff members and coaches after a new head coach was hired.
As an institution, over the past three years we have built a robust and nationally recognized Title IX office with more than 12 experts who are committed to educating and protecting our entire LSU community while moving swiftly and holding any offenders fully accountable. This will continue to be a priority for us.
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