A former rowing coach who spent 11 years at Oregon State University is seeking more than $4.5 million in damages from the school and its athletic director in a wrongful termination lawsuit stemming from his August firing.
As reported by The Oregonian, Gabriel Winkler filed the lawsuit Oct. 20 in Benton County Circuit Court. In it, he claims retaliation, a lack of due process, and breach of contract.
According to a copy of the civil complaint obtained by The Oregonian, Winkler claims Barnes terminated his contract amid overall restructuring in the athletic department and alleged mishandling of inappropriate conduct from a male rower toward two of his female teammates.
According to the complaint, OSU claims Winkler fostered a “bro-culture” on the team and failed to respond adequately to several claims. But Winkler insists he went to extraordinary lengths to protect those on his uniquely mixed-gendered team from misconduct, including requiring them to report any issues directly to him and the school’s Equal Opportunity & Access (EOA) office.
Winkler claims it was OSU that failed to adequately respond to instances of alleged misconduct.
“On January 14, 2025, at rowing practice, two female athletes on the men’s rowing team reported to Plaintiff that a male athlete on the team was pressuring girls and/or a non-binary athlete on the team into having sexual relations with him,” the complaint reads, as reported by Ryan Clarke of The Oregonian. “Immediately thereafter, Plaintiff took a break from practice to call his supervisor, the Associate Athletic Director of OSU, to report what had been told to him. Plaintiff informed his supervisor that he would be contacting the EOA office to report what had been said.”
The EOA is responsible for overseeing and maintaining an inclusive environment at the university, and ensuring compliance with the applicable laws, regulations and policies, Clarke reported. Winkler’s complaint alleges EOA did not respond to the specific complaint from the two female rowers, and instead scheduled a meeting with him in February to discuss the “men’s rowing team environment.”
"After a delay, that meeting took place in March, and Winkler claims EOA did not raise any concerns about team culture.," Clarke wrote. "A separate meeting with just athletes and no coaches present yielded the same results, Winkler claims, and an EOA representative allegedly described the team as 'in a good place.'
"No guidance was issued by EOA to deal with the specific claim of misconduct against the male rower, Winkler alleges. He decided to take the athlete off the team."
“On June 4, 2025, Plaintiff reported to Defendants that he had taken the matter into his own hands, opposing the illegal practice of forcing the female and non-binary athletes to endure a sexually harassing and discriminatory environment caused by the male athlete by removing the reported male athlete from the team,” the complaint reads, per Clarke's report.
As part of planned restructuring, Barnes decided to consolidate the OSU men’s and women’s rowing team into one group under the women’s team coach.
"Barnes allegedly sought to avoid paying out the remainder of Winkler’s contract, which ran through 2026," Clarke wrote. "That is where Winkler claims Barnes sought pretext to fire him for cause, which would relieve OSU of any further financial obligations."
At Winkler’s annual evaluation meeting on June 23, Barnes allegedly told him he would be fired for cause. “The cause identified by Defendant Barnes at the ... meeting was ‘too much noise around the men’s rowing program tied to the EOA complaints’ and a ‘bro-culture’ on the men’s rowing team that ‘created too many EOA complaints,’” the lawsuit reads. “Prior to these comments being made to Plaintiff, he had never been disciplined, counseled or investigated regarding his alleged creation or fostering of a negative culture among the men’s rowing team athletes.”
Senior associate athletic director Jeff Macy allegedly told Winkler’s coaching staff that his termination was “all about money,” according to the complaint.
Weeks later, Winkler claims that OSU — through counsel — differing reasons for his termination — from “bullying and favoritism,” which Winkler denied, to “safety concerns, anger issues, and using physical exercise as punishment,” which Winkler also disputed, to the “bro-culture” accusation.
Per Clarke's reporting, an eventual termination letter from OSU dated Aug. 12 purportedly went further, claiming Winkler “encouraged a culture of misogyny on his team, allowing females to be sexually harassed by male athletes, encouraging the harassment, and participating in the harassment.”
None of the complaints against Winkler and his staff were investigated and no disciplinary measures were ever taken, Winkler claims in the lawsuit. While OSU alleged the program’s issues date back to 2021, Barnes extended Winkler’s contract in 2024.
Winkler is seeking more than $3 million in lost wages he claims he would have earned over the next 20 years as OSU’s men’s rowing coach, and another $1.5 million in non-economic losses.
