Penn State Coach Fined, But Forgiven
You all recall Rene Portland, the Penn State basketball coach who was accused of harassing women on her team who she perceived to be lesbians? Well after a six-month investigation, the university concluded that Portland had indeed discriminated against former player Jennifer Harris, who Portland essentially ran off the team because she believed Harris was gay. (Harris says she’s straight and has since transferred to another school.) So great, vindication right? Well, sort of. Portland was officially reprimanded, fined $10,000, and will be forced to go to diversity training to teach her how to be nice to gay ladies. She will be back to coach though, and in a statement to the press, she continued to deny all of Harris’ charges. So we’re sure all that the diversity training is going to work out great.
Penn State fines basketball coach for discrimination [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:25 am
[…] Rene Portland—the Penn State basketball coach who was reprimanded for discriminating against a player because she thought the player was gay—is pissed. She gave an interview to the AP lashing back at the player and the gay rights group that backed her, accusing both of trying to ruin her reputation. Lost in that tirade though is the fact that her employer actually agreed with the player’s charges. Isn’t the first step always admitting there’s a problem? […]