In what can only be called a disturbing trend, a fourth UC Berkeley employee in under six months has been accused of sexual harassment. Assistant men’s basketball coach Yann Hufnagel, reports KQED, was fired yesterday following a determination that he had violated the school's sexual harassment policies. The quick dismissal of the coach stands in stark contrast to three high-profile cases of sexual harassment preceding his wherein the harassers were allowed to stay on even after their actions had been confirmed by internal investigations.
According to the Chronicle, the woman who accused Hufnagel of harassment is not a school employee. However, the paper notes, she did come into contact with the coach via her employment — although it is unclear as to exactly what that might be. ESPN reports that, according to an unnamed source, the woman is a reporter.
"Prompt and effective responses to findings of sexual harassment and sexual violence are key to changing behavior," the paper reports University of California President Janet Napolitano as writing to UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks.
In a post to Facebook, Hufnagel appeared to deny the allegations. "My time to exonerate myself of a fruitless claim by a reporter will come," he wrote yesterday.
"Cal has been incredibly slow-moving in the process," he told ESPN. "I'm in the process of hiring a legal team to exonerate my name."
The alleged harassment is reported to have occurred between November 2014 and May 2015.
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