Les Miles’ lawyer: KU had ‘significant information’ about LSU report ahead of release
Les Miles’ attorney fired back at Kansas Athletics on Saturday, labeling the school’s decision to put Miles on administrative leave as “bending to the winds of media blowback.”
Miles was placed on administrative leave late Friday following the release of an LSU Title IX investigation Friday that outlined allegations of him sexually harassing student workers. KU athletic director Jeff Long said the move was done “as we conduct a full review to determine the appropriate next steps.”
According to a 2013 investigation by another LSU-hired law firm, Taylor Porter, released Thursday, Miles also was accused of kissing a student twice in his parked car while also suggesting at times they go to a hotel or his condo, with the two parties eventually signing a settlement agreement that was first reported by The Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate last week.
Ginsberg, in a statement released Saturday afternoon, questioned KU’s motives while suggesting that Long and KU had more awareness about the allegations than they were letting on.
“Before the release of the reports this week, Kansas had been provided with significant information supporting Taylor Porter’s conclusions. KU also had performed thorough due diligence before hiring Coach Miles,” Ginsberg said. “Kansas’ decision to put Les Miles on administrative leave is both disturbing and unfair.”
KU Athletics’ wording in previous statements appears to leave the possibility open that the department knew about some details of the reports before Thursday even if it didn’t have the actual documents in hand.
Following the Taylor Porter report’s release Thursday, KU Athletics released a statement saying that due to ongoing litigation, it “was not provided a copy of the Taylor Porter report prior to its publication in the USA Today article.”
Long’s statement on Friday said, “The past two days have been the first time that we have had access to either report.”
Ginsberg described KU’s decision to put Miles on leave as “deeply disturbing.”
“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,” Ginsberg said.
In addition, Ginsberg argued that Taylor Porter’s 2013 investigation into Miles did not find he was guilty of sexual harassment. LSU’s Title IX investigators from law firm Husch Blackwell — in its report released Friday — said they disagreed with that ruling.
Ginsberg took issue with Husch Blackwell too. He said the firm didn’t interview Miles for its report, then “second-guessed the Taylor Porter findings and conclusions without providing any basis for doing so.”
“The report revealed no new evidence,” Ginsberg said.
Long would not speculate Friday on a timeline for his review of Miles; he said that was “because it is imperative we do our due diligence. We will be able to comment further once our review is complete.”
A report from CBS Sports on Sunday quoted an anonymous high-ranking KU Athletics official saying the school had properly researched Miles before hiring him.
“We did background checks. We did all of those kinds of things,” the KU official told CBS Sports. “We talked to people about Les and what he was doing. No one gave any indication of this.”
Miles, entering his third season as KU’s coach, was cited frequently in the Husch Blackwell report Friday, which included former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva suggesting in an email to the school’s president in 2013 that Miles should be fired because of his alleged conduct with female student workers.
According to the investigation, another LSU student worker reported to the athletic department she was “very upset” about what happened to her during a time when she was alone with Miles. When given a later meeting with Miles, the woman repeated, “You know what you did to me,” with multiple LSU employees reporting that she appeared traumatized.
The report also said Miles was heavily involved with the hiring of LSU student workers, with employees stating he wanted “to sexualize the staff.” Miles allegedly demanded that he wanted “blondes with the big boobs” and “pretty girls.”
Miles coached at LSU from 2005 until he was fired for the team’s performance after a 2-2 start in 2016. He was hired as KU’s football coach in November 2018 and is 3-18 in two seasons with the Jayhawks. KU finished 0-9 in 2020.
This story was originally published March 6, 2021 at 4:02 PM.
