George O’Leary accused of racism in lawsuit, allegedly wanted coaches to check black player’s gums color
George O’Leary, best known for resigning from Notre Dame after being caught lying on his resume, is accused of racism by a former Central Florida assistant coach who is suing the school on grounds of wrongful termination.
Paul Ferraro filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing UCF of firing him without cause. Ferraro was hired as defensive coordinator in December and left the program before spring practice. UCF says he resigned. According to USA Today, Ferraro is asking for damages in excess of $15,000, including unpaid wages.
In the lawsuit, Ferraro accuses O’Leary of creating “a work environment that was permeated by bullying, threatening behavior, and repeated discriminatory epithets” by the head coach. He sent an email to O’Leary on Feb. 25 and copied the other assistants in which he said he wouldn’t take O’Leary’s treatment any longer.
“No longer will I put up with your constant verbal abuse of both our coaching and support staff,” he said in the email. “Threatening coaches on a regular basis with their jobs and racial slurs mixed in to make a point is wrong.”
UCF’s athletic director took that email to mean that Ferraro was resigning from his job. Ferraro says it was just his way of saying he wouldn’t return until there were changes.
Ready for some of the allegations in the suit? According to USA Today:
The suit alleges that O’Leary used a derogatory word for African-Americans and called the NFL “one big ‘Ru-Ru’ tribe.” The suit also alleges O’Leary once advised coaches to check African-American players “to make sure their gums are blue, because they are bigger, faster and stronger than (African-American players) with red gums.”
That is some high-level, complex stereotyping right there, I tell you.
Honestly, the only thing about the suit that surprises me is that Ferraro went to work for O’Leary after previously serving under him at Georgia Tech. Didn’t he already know what O’Leary was like? Or did something change?
