U hires outside lawyers in Teague probe; Kaler regrets early comments

Updated 3:50 p.m. | Posted 9:15 a.m.

The University of Minnesota said Friday two outside attorneys will investigate the circumstances that led to the resignation of athletics director Norwood Teague.

Karen Schanfield and Joe Dixon of Minneapolis-based Fredrikson & Byron will "conduct a review and address key issues" tied to the sexual harassment complaints made against Teague, the university said in a statement Friday.

In announcing the hiring of outside attorneys, U President Eric Kaler also retreated on comments he made last week shortly after Teague's abrupt resignation.

"Last Friday, during the news conference announcing Teague's resignation, in response to a question, I said, 'I view this as the action of one man who was over served and a series of bad events happened.' I regret that very poor choice of words because I cannot state strongly enough that Teague is entirely responsible for his behavior, and alcohol use is no excuse," Kaler said in the statement.

Kaler on Friday also made clear the U has no plans to hire Teague as a consultant. Last week the president indicated that if needed, Teague would receive $285 an hour for services to ease the transition to a new athletics director.

"We have assessed our needs further and have determined that we do not have any need to seek any information from Norwood," Kaler said Friday.

The external review and Kaler's clarifications were the latest moves by the U as it tries to get its footing in the Teague scandal.

Teague announced his resignation on Aug. 7 following complaints by two university women that he'd sexually harassed them at a leadership retreat on July 15.

Teague reportedly groped the women and made sexually suggestive comments to them, one via text message.

The women identified themselves this week as Erin Dady, Kaler's special assistant, and Ann Aronson, the university president's deputy chief of staff.

Shortly after Teague quit, a Star Tribune sports reporter who covers U athletics came forward, saying Teague had harassed her as well.

Schanfield said she expects the review will take several months but added that there is no firm deadline.

"One of the things that's always difficult in situations like this is that they are complex, and once you start to peel back the first layer of the onion, you often find more things that you feel that you need to pursue in order to do a thorough job," she said. "We're very committed to getting this right and to being thorough and fair and objective in the process."

Schanfield, a University of Minnesota graduate, is an employment attorney who has conducted investigations into sexual harassment cases, including one involving a former adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard. Dixon is perhaps best known for his work in the U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuting swindler Tom Petters on federal fraud charges.

The U said the result would be a public, written report of the investigation.

The task list for Schanfield's work, according the U, includes investigating all allegations of sexual harassment by Teague or others in the athletics department, reviewing the process that led to Teague's hiring and examining whether university leaders knew or should have known of sexual harassment allegations against Teague but didn't act.

The U also commissioned an internal audit of the athletics department in June, before the scandal erupted.

That audit is to be led by the U's Associate Vice President of Internal Audits Gail Klatt, and Kaler said he'd consulted with the state's legislative auditor about that review.

The U says it will focus on the Teague incident initially and that Klatt will report to the Board of Regents.