Former Utah State deputy athletics director Jerry Bovee has filed a lawsuit against the school, claiming athletic director Diana Sabau was “hostile” and mistreated him in professional settings — and that the university fired him because he reported multiple policy violations.
Bovee was fired in July for what USU called “violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence.”
The lawsuit filed last month in filed in 1st District Court also alleges that Bovee filed a formal grievance after his firing but that USU failed to follow its procedures. The suit claims he is owed more than $300,000 in back pay and damages.
“Utah State University stands by its employment decisions and disputes Mr. Bovee’s presentation of events. We look forward to resolving this case in litigation and continuing to focus on our student-athletes and the success of our athletics programs,” a USU spokesperson said in a statement.
Kansas City-based law firm Hursch Blackwell investigated then-football coach Blake Anderson and concluded that he conducted his own investigation around an alleged domestic violence case that included a football player and delayed the player’s suspension, rather than following proper reporting channels. It also found that Bovee violated reporting policies.
(Courtesy of Utah State University) Diana Sabau is the new athletic director for Utah State University. She replaces John Hartwell, who resigned last November.
Bovee, who was the interim athletic director at the time, has said that he properly reported the information within 24 hours of learning about it, “as is required according to school policy.”
(Eli Lucero | Herald Journal) Interim Athletics Director Jerry Bovee, right, listens as Danny Sprinkle speaks at a press conference where he was introduced as the new basketball coach at Utah State University on Monday in Logan.
The lawsuit alleges that Sabau mistreated Bovee and took actions to “minimize his role and move him out of his position.”
Bovee claims that “at least some of this hostility” was likely because he held a “revered role in the community” and “the fact that many donors and supporters were displeased that Sabau was named the athletic director instead of him.”
“When donors and athletes were complimentary of Mr. Bovee and his work for the university, Sabau would become irritated and contentious with him,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Bovee submitted an informal complaint of “abusive conduct and retaliation to human resources related to violation of university policy” by Sabau on June 28 and was subsequently fired on July 2. On July 26, Bovee said he submitted a formal grievance in accordance with the Utah Protection of Public Employees Act. He alleges the required administrative review processes were not followed.
In the lawsuit, Bovee also alleges Sabau took job duties — like the contracting of the football schedule, traveling with the team and fundraising responsibilities — away from him as a way to push him out. Bovee’s lawsuit also states that Sabau cut his salary by $50,000, taking away a raise he received in August 2023.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Diana Sabau,Vice President & Athletics Director leads the coaches in the Aggie fight song, during a news conference introducing Wesley Brooks and Jerrod Calhoun as the AggiesÕ new womenÕs and menÕs basketball head coaches, at Utah State University, in Logan, on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
Bovee alleges he learned of his firing via an emailed letter from Sabau which stated he was terminated for “severe cause based on a report from an outside law firm.” The lawsuit states Bovee was not given the option to resign, which would be a violation of school policy.
In the lawsuit, Bovee alleges he has suffered the loss of wages as well as emotional distress as a result of his firing.
Anderon and Bovee’s firings came in the wake of a series of issues concerning the Aggie football program, which has been the focus of the Department of Justice since a 2017 investigation.
“We have to have integrity moving forward,” Sabau told The Salt Lake Tribune in July. “Utah State had the Department of Justice on campus since 2020 because of crimes with football, and a culture with football. We can’t keep moving that forward without change.”
At the time, Sabau supported the Title IX investigation that led to the firings but said she had no “agenda” to clean house.
“This independent investigation was commissioned before I was hired as an athletic director. So these events happened in April. The independent investigation was commissioned in July of 2023. And then I came to campus and was hired in August [of 2023],” Sabau said. “So for people to think that, or to allege that this is [for] an agenda, or it was conducted to move people along, is false. And that timeline can show them. That timeline is indicative of that.”
