AUSTIN, Texas — Rob Penders, who was fired last year as St. Edward's baseball coach after allegations of racism, is now suing the university for wrongful termination.
Penders was fired after a petition anonymously published accused him of using a racial slur, telling Black players to remove their head coverings, and telling Black players about his family's history with racism.
The petition was launched after St. Edward's had previously investigated the coach and decided that the investigation did not lead to grounds for firing.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday, Penders claims that a former "disgruntled player" whose allegations led to the private investigation, found out about the exoneration from the university and began the petition and a TikTok campaign. The lawsuit states the player claims Penders was "found guilty" of the allegations made against him, when the investigator's findings actually had not.
The lawsuit claims that St. Edward's President Montserrat Fuentes' goal was to "seize this moment of campus activism, place herself at the front of it and falsely glorify herself as a savior fighting against racism" instead of saying Penders was found innocent of the allegations of racism and discrimination.
"She decided to get out in front of the campus activism, and falsely lead her own students into believing that she was fighting against racism — racism that, in this instance, she and an investigator had determined was not present," Penders' attorney, Tom Nesbitt, said.
The lawsuit also claims that upon the result of the investigator's findings, but prior to the start of the petition, Fuentes allegedly wrote to Penders privately saying "I am so excited about the bright future of our baseball team under your leadership!"
The lawsuit claims Fuentes issued a statement confirming the existence of an investigation into Penders but concealing its results. Penders was also allegedly prohibited from responding to the controversy, the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, another player came forward alleging misconduct by Penders. This dispute centered around the player asking to get back on the team after allegedly quitting during a game. The lawsuit says the entire conversation between Penders and this player was recorded, and the external investigator – who listened to the tape and interviewed both former players and Penders – found Penders had not engaged in discrimination. President Fuentes also agreed with this assessment, the lawsuit alleges, yet Penders was still fired in December.
"Why did she do it? She did it to glorify herself, to make the community think she was fighting bravely for, in her own words, social justice," Nesbitt told KVUE. "It is just about the most vile thing an employer can do to an employee: falsely label them in their own community as a racist and then fire them claiming to be standing up to racism."
Penders' termination was confirmed on Dec. 3 in a letter to the St. Edward's community. The lawsuit says Fuentes decided to "mislead students, faculty and the community" and "issued a public statement again concealing that Penders had been exonerated and again falsely glorifying herself as someone fighting for 'social justice.'"
"To this day, Fuentes and St. Edward’s have refused to tell their own students and community the truth, preferring instead to unlawfully terminate and smear Penders, falsely labeling Penders a racist so that Fuentes can advance a phony narrative that she was fighting for 'social justice' by terminating Penders," the lawsuit concludes.
For more background reporting on Pender's firing, click here.
KVUE has reached out to St. Edward's for comment regarding the claims made in Penders' lawsuit. A St. Edward's spokesperson gave KVUE the following statement:
"On Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, former head baseball coach, Rob Penders, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit. Coach Penders was terminated by St. Edward's University on Dec. 3, 2021 due to the nature of his interactions with student athletes on the baseball team, and his subsequent discussions with his supervisors within the athletic department. Coach Penders was not terminated on the basis of his race. Contrary to his claims in the lawsuit, the university did not prohibit Coach Penders from responding to any of the investigations, online criticism or media reports."
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: