Posted on 10/18/2007 11:15:19 AM PDT by Enterprise
"Johnson-Klein is suing Fresno State for sexual discrimination, while the university claims that the former women's basketball coach misused department funds and took prescription drugs from her players."
(Excerpt) Read more at kmph.com ...
Fresno State President John Welty took the stand Wednesday, and said Johnson-Klein was fired for lying and inappropriate conduct of a coach.
Former employees of Fresno State's athletic department, Diane Milutinovich and Lindy Vivas, also testified and described the work environment as hostile, and a very difficult place to work.
President Welty's testimony will continue on Thursday.
Johnson-Klein is suing Fresno State for sexual discrimination, while the university claims that the former women's basketball coach misused department funds and took prescription drugs from her players."
As more testimony is revealed, I will update.
"Here's a snap shot: Johnson-Klein will have to confront allegations of prescription pain medication addiction. During an evidentiary hearing this week, university attorneys claimed between October 25, 2004 and February 9, 2005, Johnson-Klein obtained 900 pills of hydrocodone and oxycontin from multiple doctors. Her attorney Warren Paboojian agreed in court that the former women's basketball coach took a bottle of prescription pain pills from a student, and Johnson-Klein suffered pain from a car accident in Oklahoma. The hearing is not a time for him to defend his client's actions. But her attorneys were successful in excluding other details of Johnson-Klein's personal life. Jurors WON'T hear about the following: her "lipoplasty" (aka liposuction), child custody disputes or divorce/disputes of Stacy Johnson-Klein or her husband Chuck Klein, testimony from prior nannies regarding disputes between Johnson-Klein and the nannies. Attorneys did not discuss those topics in court.
Fresno State also faces tough challenges. During a previous hearing, details surfaced for the first time in public about former men's basketball coach Ray Lopes. The judge is allowing Ray Lopes to testify, and the university will have to explain why Lopes received approximately $200,000 in compensation to resign from Fresno State. Johnson-Klein's attorneys want to know why Lopes received the compensation when he faced 457 major NCAA violations Johnson-Klein was reportedly not offered the same."
"10/18/07 - Stacy Johnson-Klein could be seen making facial gestures during some of Dr. John Welty's testimony today.
Watch Action News On Demand And this afternoon the judge admonished the plaintiffs' attorneys for expressions like those and said he may consider fining attorneys if the behavior continues. The warning came after a long day of questioning for the University president.
Dr. John Welty walked into court Thursday morning for what turned out to be nearly five hours of questioning.
Dr. Welty testified Stacy Johnson-Klein was fired for not only taking a half bottle of prescription painkillers from a player, but also skimming money from her staff's bonuses, and taking a trip to china, even though a member of her staff told her a scheduled tournament there had been cancelled.
But Johnson-Klein's attorneys claim her firing was inconsistent with the treatment of other coaches.
They questioned Dr. Welty about budget discrepancies with other coaches discovered in a university audit, who were not disciplined.
Much of the questions centered around the treatment of Ray Lopes, a former basketball coach who retired with a settlement agreement after admitting to more than 450 N-C Double A recruiting violations.
But under cross examination, Wetly told jurors, "I believe the act of taking prescription drugs from a player, in terms of affects on players, is much more serious than phone call violations."
Warning From the Bench in the Stacy Johnson-Klein vs. Fresno State Trial
Asked by Paboojian if he ever made sexual advances toward Johnson-Klein, Johnson replied: "Never. Never. Never."
"During his testimony, Johnson accused Johnson-Klein's attorney Warren Paboojian of embarrassing him in the media and disrupting his family life by making false accusations.
"The sexual stuff is important but the jury may throw that out because of 'he said she said' but we know there was an Ugly Women's day when they treated women poorly." says legal analyst Ernest Kinney.
The so-called "Ugly Women's Day" slogan was displayed on posters with photos of men attached to the bodies of female stick figures.
It happened during a luncheon in April of 2000. Both Fresno State and Johnson deny they had anything to do with it.
"Did Johnson have sexual intercourse with a female university employee in a Salt Lake City hotel room in 2000 while another university employee was in a bed next to them?
Did a boozed-up Johnson and others in that Utah hotel room watch pornographic movies?
Did Johnson proposition Johnson-Klein in a car wash?"
Ex-'Dogs athletic director vents anger at allegations of sexual misconduct
Ogle testified he expressed concerns to Dr. John Welty about hiring Scott Johnson as athletic director because "he didn't always tell the truth." And after Johnson assumed the role of athletic director and hired Stacy Johnson-Klein as basketball coach, he heard Johnson make an inappropriate comment.
Ogle testified it happened while introducing Johnson-Klein at an event at the Save Mart Center while it was still under construction. He says Johnson addressed Bob Piccinini, CEO of Savemart Supermarkets, saying "Mr. Piccinini, I'd bet you'd like to play some defense with Stacy."
Ogle says it was meant as a joke, but few laughed. Scott Johnson later apologized.
Ogle said he told president John Welty in mid-2002, about a half-year after Johnson was named athletic director, that Johnson had harmed the athletic department with his reorganization of its top management about a month earlier."
"Stacy Johnson-Klein's coaching style during the 2004-05 season changed from the tough love that earned her players' admiration to the kind of verbal abuse that pierced their hearts, former Bulldogs basketball player Aritta Lane testified Monday in Fresno County Superior Court.
The Bulldogs thrashed San Jose State on the road that season, then were subjected to a postgame harangue by Johnson-Klein for not playing good enough and threats they may have to settle for a dinner of bologna sandwiches, Lane said."
Johnson-Klein said she went to her office and cried, but never told anyone because she was afraid of being fired.
She said a year later, Scott Johnson went into her office, put his hand on her leg, and asked her to go with him to his new cabin at Shaver Lake. She said she turned him down.
She also testified that at public events, Johnson would call her "My Miss America," or refer to "Johnson and Johnson," or call her a "looker" who would be able to sell tickets to games. She said that made her "frustrated, mad."
In earlier testimony, Scott Johnson denied making any improper advances toward Johnson-Klein.
Johnson-Klein also testified that former associate athletic director Scott Welniak sexually harassed her five separate times about her clothes and her body -- one time saying that she needed to "keep her breasts under wraps."
"Fired Fresno State women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein broke down and cried several times Thursday as she testified in her sexual discrimination lawsuit against the university.
Johnson-Klein said since she was fired in early 2005, she's applied for numerous head-coaching jobs around the country. "I don't even get a call," she said.
She said her career has been wiped out by the allegations the university has made."
"Then in early November 2004, a Fresno State official wrote an e-mail to President John Welty, saying the coach was threatening a whistleblower complaint.
Johnson-Klein said that shortly after that, she received a phone call from another university official, who told her Welty had passed on a message -- "Never threaten me again."
Johnson-Klein Cried On The Stand About End Of Coaching Career
"On Monday, Johnson-Klein said university officials learned of the pill incident because in early 2005, she had told assistant coach Drew Champagne that his contract would not be renewed for the following season.
Johnson-Klein earlier in the trial had testified that Champagne allegedly had a relationship with a player that Johnson-Klein did not approve of."
But if it was remorse, Johnson-Klein said in Fresno County Superior Court, it didn't stop Johnson from later telling her about his sex life with his wife. Nor did it soothe the outrage she had felt at what had happened, Johnson-Klein said."
"I was pissed," Johnson-Klein said in the deposition read by Dan Siegel, one of her lawyers."
"During her seven years at Fresno State, Doris Bettencourt, 63, worked as a secretary.
But she says she never signed up for the obscene display of behavior she witnessed on a road trip with her then boss Scott Johnson.
Doris Bettencourt said, a work related dinner party in Salt Lake City in 2000, ended with Scott Johnson and other staff members back in her hotel room, watching a pornographic movie.
Bettencourt said, "The lights were out. I could see Scott and Betsy having sex. I stayed quiet."
Bettencourt said she pretended to be asleep while the two coworkers had sex in the bed next to her.
Bettencourt said Johnson and the other staff member involved in the alleged sexual affair were both married to other people at the time."
Before I forget, this is a one man, ELEVEN WOMAN jury!
"Mick Marderosian asked whether the 63-year-old had too many glasses of wine or whiskey that may of fogged her memory.
Doris Bettencourt testified it was humiliating and embarrassing to watch the former Athletics Director Scott Johnson, and another Fresno State employee, having sex in the bed next to her during a trip to Salt Lake City in 2000.
Marderosian questioned Bettencourt about hearing noises, wrestling, and if she saw the two take their clothes off.
Bettencourt replied by saying, "You can have sexual intercourse without taking your clothes off."
After becoming irritated with Marderosian's line of questioning, the 63-year old replied, "Do you want me to tell you what I saw? I saw Scott on top of Betsy in the act, that's what I saw."
Bettencourt said she turned her head, closed her eyes and fell asleep after the two were done having sex and left the room."
< a href="http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=7329035">Johnson-Klein Secretary Faces Cross-Examination
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