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Gary Barta should be fired.

Gary Barta and the no good, very bad, discrimination lawsuits.

Gary Barta is not very good at his job, and should be removed from his job, for cause.

For those unaware, the University of Iowa, the Athletic Department, and specifically Gary Barta, recently lost a discrimination lawsuit against former Senior Associate Athletic Director, Jane Meyer, costing the University $1.43 million. Then, settled another discrimination lawsuit with Meyer and Tracey Griesbaum, former Iowa Field Hockey coach and Meyer’s partner, for $6.5 million. All of this was avoidable, and it all falls on Gary Barta.

Let’s go through a timeline:

The feeling is that once the Title IX investigation and the external review have been completed, Barta will be let go, most likely for cause, thus nullifying his buyout.

Some notes that came out during the trial. There was a consensus from witnesses (a who’s who of Iowa coaches, Ferentz, Bluder, Heller, Brands) that Meyer was very difficult to work with, that she rarely took their requests into consideration with regards to facilities upgrades. However, none of this was written down or documented, at all. It was all post hoc testimony. But there have also been some stories floating around from local media that came out before the trial that Meyer was basically a bully, and horrible to work with. Jane Meyer however, produced lots of documentation that she was a model employee. She never received a poor performance review, and even had written notes from Tom Brands that thanked her for work she had done. She has been a part of the athletic department since 2001, preceding Barta himself. She was then passed over for a senior athletic director position by now Kansas State athletic director, Gene Taylor. She was told that she would not be considered for the position.

The thread through all of this is Gary Barta and his complete disregard for documentation or any semblance of management skills. He apparently fostered an Old Boy’s club environment within his department. He needs to go.

Other helpful links for this story:

JANE MEYER VS. THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: THE INTRO

JANE MEYER VS. THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: WEEK ONE

Jane Meyer takes the stand; Gary Barta expected Friday

JANE MEYER VS. THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: LISA BLUDER TO TESTIFY TODAY

JANE MEYER VS. THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: COACHES, GENE TAYLOR TESTIFY

TESTIMONIES IN MEYER TRIAL END; CLOSING ARGUMENTS, VERDICT EXPECTED

JURY FINDS FOR JANE MEYER IN JANE MEYER VS. THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

JURY AWARDS JANE MEYER $1.4MM

JANE MEYER V. UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: THE AFTERMATH

IOWA SETTLES DISCRIMINATION SUITS FOR $6.5 MILLION

IOWA SETTLES ALL CLAIMS WITH TRACEY GRIESBAUM AND JANE MEYER FOR $6.5 MILLION