Editor’s note: This story contains alleged accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at or at https://www.rainn.org.
In federal court documents filed on Thursday, LSU’s former associate athletic director Sharon Lewis says Frank Wilson, LSU’s new running backs coach and associate head coach, sexually harassed her and another woman.
Wilson previously acted as an LSU assistant from 2010 to '15, which is when Lewis says the harassment occurred. Wilson was recently hired back to LSU by new coach Brian Kelly.
The document says Wilson “asked Lewis to touch his genitalia in addition to trying to kiss another female employee without her consent,” per The Athletic’s report.
Lewis stated that she went to senior associate athletic director Miriam Segar and executive deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry regarding the situation, but no action was taken.
LSU released a statement about Lewis’s allegations against Wilson: “We are unaware of any prior allegations against Frank Wilson, and there is no evidence that any such allegations were ever reported to LSU officials. Further, none of these allegations were shared during the highly visible, independent Title IX review that LSU initiated last year.”
However, Lewis’s allegations were added to her ongoing lawsuit against LSU over its former head coach Les Miles's sexually harassing LSU students working in athletics. This lawsuit was filed in April 2021, causing Kansas to part ways with Miles, who took over the Jayhawks' program after his dismissal from LSU.
A Washington Post piece about the lawsuit reports that Lewis accused “the university of gender discrimination, racial prejudice and a failure to adhere to Title IX policies regarding sexual misconduct,” regarding the Miles situation.
Lewis was fired in January 2022 during significant reshuffling of the athletic department around Kelly's hire. Lewis and her attorneys say the school’s decision to fire her was retaliation over the lawsuit filed the previous year, and that it is a violation of Title IX, worker and whistleblower protections.
