After a basketball game in January, Little Miami (Ohio) High School's athletic director says a confrontation with the district’s school board president left him feeling “harassed, intimidated and bullied,” according to documents obtained by ABC affiliate WCPO in Cincinnati.
A school spokesman confirmed there was an investigation into the altercation and said officials were preparing more records to provide to the public.
As reported by WCPO's Keith BieryGolick, the conflict appears to have started because of a rumor on social media regarding whether the district would withdraw from the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
"It’s something athletic director Matt Louis has strongly objected to in the past. And something that has drawn big crowds at school board meetings," BieryGolick reported. "Because of this, according to a complaint filed with the district’s human resources department, Louis says School Board president David Wallace approached him after the game while he was picking up chairs."
Wallace, who said he wants to remain in the high school association, believed Louis was the source of this rumor coming up again.
Louis said Wallace grabbed his arm, pointed a finger in his face and told him "You need to end it," according to the complaint filed two days after the game, BieryGolick reported.
"These actions contributed to an environment that I believe constitutes a hostile and unsafe workplace," Louis said in the complaint.
Wallace told WCPO in an email that the athletic director’s version of events was only one side of the story. In fact, Wallace filed his own complaint to the district after the incident — calling it “bizarre” and saying Louis's complaint was made in “bad faith.”
Louis told investigators he believed his contract was not renewed in January because of this incident. He told WCPO in a text message said that he stood by what he said in the complaint.
As reported by BieryGolick, Wallace denied making any threatening statements. In an interview with the district's investigators, he acknowledged touching Louis’s arm but said it was in a friendly manner. The investigators, who reviewed video of the interaction as part of their work that wrapped up this week, agreed.
"The evidence demonstrates that the interaction was tense, but that Mr. Wallace did not act in a threatening way toward Mr. Louis," an investigator wrote in the report.
Investigators also determined Louis was not the source of the social media rumor, BieryGolich reported.
