Les Miles' Attorney Fires Back At Harassment Reports, Administrative Leave
An attorney for former LSU head football coach Les Miles said the treatment of Miles is "disturbing" and "unfair" amid allegations that he sexually harassed students at LSU.
Peter Ginsberg, a New York-based attorney for Miles, released a statement Saturday calling the recent events "deeply disturbing."
Kansas athletic director Jeff Long released a statement on Friday night detailing the decision to place Miles on leave and the university will conduct a full review of the situation.
But Miles' attorney says the school had "significant information" supporting the independent firm's conclusion and performed due diligence of their own — he said Kansas placed the coach on administrative leave to because of the "media blowback" and called the events "deeply disturbing."
"Kansas’ decision to put Les Miles on administrative leave is both disturbing and unfair," Ginsberg said. "To fail to recognize that a person’s career should not be compromised by unsubstantiated allegations hardly is consistent with the example an institution of higher learning should champion.”
The University of Kansas hired Miles in November 2018 without knowledge of the allegations, USA Today reports.
Kansas spokesman Dan Beckler said the school was reviewing the newly released report and awaiting the findings of the Husch Blackwell investigation.
Miles' attorney also said the independent firm LSU used to investigate the allegations "did not even bother to interview Coach Miles or many other key witnesses." He said the firm second-guessed the previous independent report and concluded with no basis to do so.
The investigation conducted by an outside law firm on behalf of LSU did not find that Miles had sexual relationships with any of the women, but that his behavior was inappropriate, an internal investigative report released by LSU on Thursday details.
The former LSU head football coach was accused of taking female students to his condo alone and on at least one occasion, kissing a student and suggesting they go to a hotel after telling her he could help her career.
He was issued a letter of reprimand and LSU required him to sign forms stating that he had read and understood the school’s policies a result of the investigation’s findings.
Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended in 2013 to fire Les Miles with cause and said the public opinion would be in LSU's favor, The Athletic reports.
Miles would be just over $8 million if Kansas were to fire him without cause, USA Today reports.
During the full review, it's possible the university is evaluating the obligations both parties entered to in his employment agreement to determine if the contents of the report might constitute grounds to part ways with him for cause, thus avoiding a buyout.