Melissa Wilhelmsen says Rich Rodriguez created a hostile work environment, so now she wants $7.5 million. Tuscon.com got a copy of the lawsuit.
Here is a breakdown of some of her grievances.
The claim says that the woman was forced to cover up Rodriguez’s longtime relationship with his girlfriend and that eventually, Rodriguez began sexually harassing the woman by brushing up against her breasts, talking about his underwear, and at one point, grabbing his penis after calling her into his office.
Along with The Hideaway Book came “The Triangle of Secrecy,” which consisted of the woman and two other employees who were forced to lie to Rodriguez’s wife to cover up his affair and “coerced to shield Rodriguez” from anything that could damage his reputation.
In November, 2015, Rodriguez asked the woman to get a sideline pass for his girlfriend for the USC game, during which Rodriguez’s wife was also on the sideline.
“Nonetheless, Rodriguez made incredibly inappropriate comments to (the woman) afterwards about how his preferred style of underwear ‘visibly enhanced’ his genitalia when worn,” the claim says.
By November 2016, Rodriguez changed his workout schedule so that he could walk back to his office shirtless in front of the woman.
In January 2017, Rodriguez began telling the woman about his marital problems, saying that he needed to be with someone who is passionate. He grabbed the woman, “embraced her, touched the side of her breast and tried to kiss her,” but the woman pulled away and moved her head.
Two weeks after the incident, Rodriguez told the woman he wanted to “take care of her” and tried to give her $300 cash, which she refused.
On February 22, Rodriguez called the woman into his office and had her close the door, after which she saw that he was “grasping his penis beneath his basketball shorts.” Rodriguez continued to carry on a normal conversation with the woman, who said that she “just looked down until he was through talking.”
“She recalls him being so close to her face that she could smell the BBQ chips on his breath. He then grazed her breast with his hand as he awkwardly reached towards her for a hug,” the claim says, adding that the woman left the office feeling violated.
Rich Rod situation sounds a lot like Matt Lauer and others.
Rodriguez admits to the affair but says he is 100% innocent of everything else. He was fired by Arizona and given $6 million to go away.
Flip the page to read the FULL PDF of the lawsuit.