The former athletic director for University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Brian Barrio, is suing the school and president Valerie Sheares Ashby for defamation following his termination by the school.
Barrio was hired as the athletic director in 2020, in the midst of a sexual misconduct scandal with the school’s head swim coach, Chad Cradock. In Sept. 2020, members of the men’s swim team approached Barrio with allegations of sexual misconduct against the coach, and Barrio immediately suspended coach Cradock.
In his lawsuit complaint, Barrio states he, “was responsible for ‘blowing the whistle’ on Coach Cradock and bringing an end to the abuse he had forced on countless UMBC student athletes that were entrusted to his care and oversight. If not for the actions of Brian, the abuse and assaults would have continued unabated.”
At the time, there was also a Title IX Investigation of the UMBC swimming program that alleged the university knew about several of the problems within the program but did not respond appropriately.
According to The Daily Record, Barrio, “sued in August, four months after UMBC fired him and settled with victims for $4.1 million.”
Barrio says now that UMBC kept him in the dark during his interview process, and had he known the full extent of what was going on behind closed doors, he would not have accepted the job. There are no details in the lawsuit about events from 2021 to 2023, as the investigation will focus on the time when Barrio first learned about the misconduct by coach Craddock.
Barrio first sued UMBC and president Sheares Ashby in federal court, but he recently dismissed the federal court suit and re-filed in Howard County Circuit Court. His legal team did not comment on this decision. There has also been no response from the school or president Sheares Ashby.
