KU Athletics reaches six-figure settlement with former longtime employee
Kansas Athletics has reached a settlement with former longtime employee Jen Allee for $600,000, resolving a matter in which Allee “raised allegations related to events that began in 2014.”
The agreement, signed by both parties the last week in June and acquired by The Star through an open records request, required both sides to “forego litigation of the dispute.”
In addition, Allee — she had worked with KU Athletics since 2004 — agreed to resign from her position as assistant athletic director for Williams Education Fund alumni engagement on July 1.
The agreement does not specify the nature of the allegations, and the parties agreed in the settlement to not discuss it, other than to say it’s been resolved.
According to the terms, Allee will receive $323,956.09 to represent “payment for alleged personal injury damages,” $240,048.79 for “attorney’s fees and legal costs” and 35,995.12 for lost wages.
The document stated that approximately $85,000 of that would be paid by KU Athletics, while the other $515,000 would be fulfilled by KU Athletics’ insurer.
Allee also was to be given $1,575 for her portion of the cost of a mediation that took place on Dec. 2, 2019.
Joe Monaco, KU director of strategic communications, provided the school’s comment on the settlement, saying, “The matter has been resolved.”
As part of the agreement, Allee agreed to not disparage or make negative comments about the released parties on any social media or public platform.
The settlement also included the names of six KU Athletics employees who were not to make negative comments about Allee: athletic director Jeff Long, executive associate AD Nicole Corcoran, deputy AD for external engagement Chris Freet, deputy AD for administration Sean Lester, assistant AD for human resources Frank Reeb and senior associate AD for development Ryan White.
Friday’s news is the latest in a string of off-field matters that KU Athletics has been involved with in recent months.
In June, KU Athletics resolved a 15-month legal battle with former football coach David Beaty, agreeing to pay him $2.55 million after he alleged that the department sought to concoct a reason to fire him for cause to avoid a $3 million payout.
KU also received some unwanted publicity while Beaty’s lawsuit played out, which included the release of deposition testimony from former employee Matt Baty that alleged crass comments of sexual nature by Long about a staff member and donor. In a statement, KU described Baty’s testimony as “full of outright fabrications, lies and false attributions.”
KU Athletics’ defense in Beaty’s case also was costly, with the department being billed $473,730.04 through April 2020 on the case.
The school also faces five Level I basketball violations as part of a looming NCAA infractions case. Just last week, the IARP — Independent Accountability Resolution Process — announced that KU’s matter would be resolved by its newly formed group of NCAA outsiders.
Allee shifted her position to assistant AD in the Williams Fund in March 2019. According to an earlier KU bio, she previously was KU’s assistant athletic director for marketing and fan experience. Allee served in various other roles in KU Athletics’ marketing department before that, and also was previously a gameday assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs.
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Allee attended Blue Valley High School in Stilwell, Kansas. She graduated from KU in 2003 and received her master’s in 2005.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 6:18 PM.
