Former Oregon assistant track and field coach Sally Harmon filed a sexual discrimination grievance against the school’s Athletic Department on Oct. 10 and has yet to receive a response.
In her complaint, filed through the State of Oregon, Harmon alleges she was sexually discriminated against in spring 2003 when she was not re-hired for her coaching position after the men’s and women’s track and field programs merged.
“Throughout my tenure at the University of Oregon I was treated less favorably than my male peers in the terms and conditions of my employment,” Harmon, a former All-American at the University, states in her complaint. “Up through the time I was discharged I received less pay and benefits than equally or less qualified, experienced and tenured male counterparts.”
Harmon filed only a complaint, not a lawsuit. The Civil Rights Division of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, which is in charge of looking into the complaint, will begin its investigation in December, Harmon said in a phone interview Tuesday.
The next step in the process is for the University to issue a response to Harmon’s complaint. University General Counsel Melinda Grier said she hopes an agreement can be reached without having a lawsuit filed.
“A complaint like this is something we take very seriously,” Grier said. “What we always hope is that in the course of the process we are able to resolve our differences.”
The complaint has become a sensitive issue for those who know Harmon. Former Oregon head track and field coach Tom Heinonen, Athletics Director Bill Moos and senior thrower Mary Etter declined comment on the issue.
Senior Jill Hoxmeier did comment on the issue and said student-athletes have not played a role throughout this process.
“As much as people think we have a lot to do with it, we really don’t,” Hoxmeier said. “If Sally feels she was treated unfairly, she has every right to explore that.”
Last fall Heinonen announced he would retire in June. In January, Moos announced the merger of the men’s and women’s track and field programs under the direction of then-head men’s coach Martin Smith.
Smith hired Lance Deal, a four-time Olympian in the hammer throw, in August 2002 as the men’s volunteer throwing coach. When the programs merged, Smith left the men and women with just one coach for four throwing events. Deal filled that position and Harmon was dismissed.
Harmon was, however, not the only coach to be relieved of duties. Liz James, former director of operations for the women’s program, was “discharged” from her position by Smith, according to Harmon’s complaint. That occurred after Harmon’s termination.
Mark Stream, the women’s assistant coach in jumps, sprints and the heptathalon for the past 26 seasons, chose not to re-apply for his position upon Heinonen’s retirement.
The throws coach position became nationally advertised in late February, according to the complaint. About 20 people applied, with Harmon and Smith being the only ones granted interviews.
Harmon states in her complaint that she met with Smith in February, and in asking about coaching the combined programs, “He told me that I was not on his ‘short list’ for the throws coach position.”
Harmon alleges in her complaint that Smith told her no recruiting would be conducted last season until a coach was hired. However, in April, Deal approached Harmon for a videotape of a student-athlete for a recruiting trip. Deal told her Smith had approved the visit.
Deal also told Harmon, according to her complaint, that in summer 2002 Smith approached him and, “They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“This was a done deal when (Deal) was recruited to volunteer coach,” Harmon said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “For an accomplished coach who has proven herself to produce national-level contenders year after year in all four throwing events to a coach who has yet to prove that status, for that person to be selected, it clearly demonstrates a bias.”
Harmon had coached at Oregon since 1986. Prior to that, she was a star javelin thrower for the Ducks and became the program’s first women’s individual national champion in 1981. Harmon spent her post-collegiate career coaching athletes who competed in throwing events.
During her 18 years of coaching at Oregon, Harmon’s accomplishments include coaching three NCAA national champions, 18 All-Americans, seven Pac-10 champions and one athlete who became an Olympian.
Harmon has been inducted into the Oregon Hall of Fame twice, both for her athletic and coaching accomplishments.