ex 16: knelman-quinn email (april 11, 2011)

8/10/2019 Ex 16: Knelman-Quinn email (April 11, 2011)

1/3

RE: Follow Up

R Follow Up

Quinn

rin C

Sent:Monday,April 11, 2011 7:45 AM

To: Knelman,James Adler Jak

Dear

Jak,

The

a t torney

fo r the

College

i s Karen

McAndrew.

You

may provide

her emai l address

to

your a t t o rney .

[email protected]

Since re ly ,

Erin Quinn

r o m ~

Knelman,

James Adler (Jak)

Sen t : Wednesday,

Apr i l

06 ,

2 011 11:40

To:

Quinn,

Er in C.

Subjec t : RE:

Follow Up

Dear

Mr.

Quinn,

I am disappointed in

your

f a i l u r e to

respond to th e

ques t ions

t h a t - I

have

asked.

I

a l so

t ake i s sue with your s ta tement t ha t there

a re

a number o f . i n a c cu r a c ie s in my

emai l s .

I f

yo u

th ink t h a t

I have

sa id anything

in

an y o f

my emai ls

t h a t you

be l i eve

are

inaccura te

p l e a s ~

t ll me, in

wr i t ing ,

what they are .

More

i m p o ~ t a n t l y I must

respec t fu l ly disagree

with

y ou r v ie w

t h a t

how

the

Col lege

handles th e issu e with Coach Heaney a pr i va t e

personne l

mat te r . Coach Beaney, with

the as s i s t ance of th e College, by turn ing a b l ind

eye to

h is behavior ,

has des t royed

my

oppor tuni ty

t o

play

i n t e rco l l eg ia t e

hockey. A

pass ion

t h a t I have nur tured

and developed

fo r yea r s has

been

ru ined a t the whim

of

a Coach who has a

h i s to ry

of er r a t ic behavior .

You

may

cons ide r

the s i tua t ion with Coach Beaney

to be a

p r i v a t e ,

personne l mat t e r , bu t

to

me it has been very publ ic and ve ry personal . When

Coach Heaney

dismissed me from

team,

he pUbl ic ly

embarrassed

and defamed

me . He

he ld

me up to r id ic ule

before

the

en t i r e

team

and

the

College

community.

He has

a l so

made

it

so

t h a t

an y

t ime

a

po ten t i a l

employer :asks why I sudden;Ly stopped

playing

hockey, I have to

e i t h e r

make

up

a

s to ry ,

or

hope

t h a t th e prospect ive

employer be l i eves me

when

I

t ll them t h a t ;

even

though

I

was a l ea d in g s co re r, exce l len t te ammate , a nd .except ional s tudent , withou t an y

h i s to ry

o f d i s c i p l i n e problems,

t h a t

fo r no

good

reason I was summari ly d ismissed from th e team.

Why shou ld I have

to

conceal my dedica t ion

to the

sp or t in a

conversa t ion

with a

po t en t i a l

~ m p l o y e r gradua te school r e c r u i t e r , or even more pe r sona l acquaintances? Do I

t ll

them

th e t ru th and

hope they bu y

it

do

r ~ p i n a s tory? I s t ha t

the

educat ional

lesson t h a t

Middlebury

wants me t o l earn from t h i s

s i t u a t i o n ,

t o

sp in

th e s to ry ? I hope

it i s . c l e a r

t h a t

t h i s matter may be a pr i va t e

personne l

mat ter to you, but

it

has

se r ious

and impor tant

fu tu re , and

pub l i c ramif ica t ions

fo r

me. expect

th e

Col lege to

u n d e ~ s t a n d

th e impor tance o f the

i s sue ,

and

to

a d d r e s ~ and

reso lve

t h i s mat ter pub l i c l y .

Coach

Beaney vio la ted

the Col l ege s

Code of

Conduct

by

h is ac t i ons .

The

Col l ege s

f a ilu re to prope r ly supervise him an d ca l l him to accoun t ,

h as a llo wed

him to cont inue

with

h is a bus iv e be ha v io r .

To

t h i s day

the College has

taken no ac t ion

to publ ic ly

reprimand

Coach Beaney fo r h is behavior , o r f o r t h a t mat t e r ,

to

do

anything to

remedy

th e harm t h a t he h as c au se d me and numerous o the r

players .

I h av e p ro po sed t ha t

Coach

Beaney be suspended fo r a season as

j u s t

an d

f i t t i ng

punishment. You

have appa rent ly

re fused to

do

t h a t even

though

~ h a t d i sc ip l ine

would be appropr i a t e

given th e

number of

t imes he h as d ism is se d or pun ished players ,

usua l ly

fo r no va l id r eason.

In a l l , I agree with you

t h a t

cont inuing

to

exchange emai ls

or

m e e t i ~ g

to

t a l k

abou t

t h i s an y f u r t he r

i s no t

f r u i t f u l . I have reviewed t h i s matter

a t

l ength

with

my pa ren t s

and

I h av e con cl ud ed t h a t in

o rd er fo r

th i s mat t e r to

be

resolved in a

f a shion t h a t i s

EXHIBIT

Page1 3

Case 5:11-cv-00123-cr Document 1-16 Filed 05/11/11 Page 1 of 3


2/3

R

ollow Up

f a ir to a l l concerned ,

t ha t

persons o the r than yo u

an d I a re going to

have to address

these

i s sue s .

To t ha t en d I have

r et ai ne d le ga l

counse l to pursue t h i s mat t e r

fur ther .

Please email me the name of counse l fo r

the

College and I wi l l provide it

to

my counsel .

I am disappointed

th at th is

mat ter has

no t been

proper ly

addressed

and resolved to

da te .

But your l a t e s t emai l

makes

it c l e a r

to

me

t ha t

the kind

of

meaningful , systemic change

t h a t i s requi red

i s

no t

going to occur

un le s s , an d

un t i l , th e College t r e a t s

t h i s

i ssue

f a r more s e r i ous l y

than it

qas to d ate .

s incere ly ,

Jak Knelman

From: Quinn, Erin C.

S en t: F rid ay , Apr i l 01, 2011 2:34 PM

To:

Knelman, James Adler (Jak)

Subjec t :

RE: Follow Up

Dear Jak,

You

have

been

given

the

oppor tuni ty

to

sha re

your

concerns ,

an d

they

wi l l be addressed

appropr ia te ly .

As I have s ta te d to you

previous ly , how

we

handle

t h i s with Coach Beaney

i s a

pr i va t e

pe rs onnel ma tt er

and

as

such.

wi l l

not

be

shared

with

you.

I

would

l i ke

to

note t h a t th ere a re a number

o f

i naccu rac i e s in

your

e -ma i l s . While I am no t going

to

engage

in

an e -ma i l debate on

these

i s sues , I remain wi l l i ng

to

meet with you a t my

of f i c e .

Since re ly ,

Er in Quinn

- - - - -Or i g i n a l

e s s a g e ~

From: Kne lman , James Adler (Jak)

Sent : Thursday, March 31, 2011 11:58 AM

To: Quinn,

Er in

C.

SUbject : RE:

Follow

Up

Dear Mr. Quinn,

Thank

yo u fo r r esponding , however your

e ~ i l does

no t

c lear ly

r e f l e c t

the

e s t ab l i shed

and thorough

processes

beyond

yea r ly

and

con t r ac tua l reviews.

Although I

under s t and

t h a t

my s i t ua t i on

may be

brought

up

in t hose longer- term

review

proces se s , I am still

confused on

how

my

s i tua t ion

has /wi l l be r e soived

immediate ly

through

e s t ab l i shed

proces se s .

.

The bottom l i ne i s t ha t : I was suspended fo r no

good reason by

a

Coach

who

has

a his tory

o f a rb it r ar y and

e r r a t i c behavior , which

i s encouraged

by t he C o lle ge s

f a i lu r e to

e f f e c t ~ v e l y address

th e problem. And as you have now

made c l ea r , th e

f a i lu r e to c or re ct

th e

problem l i e s

within

the Depar tment

o f A t hl et ic s

and its

f a i lu re

to mainta in a

system

to ensure due proces s an d d i smi s sa l based on d i smi s sa l with

cau se .

In doing so

th e

Col lege al lows th e

Coach s

unacceptable behavior to

cont inue .

Here i s

t he q ue st i on I a sk ed y ou . Please tell me

in

wr i t i ng before spr ing

r e ~ k

what

you in tend

to

do and

when

you in tend to do it

Let

me be more prec i s e . Do you in tend

to

permi t

Coach

Beaney

to

cont inue

undisc ip l ined?

Your o ffe r to

me

to

t r y ou t

fo r

a

team

fo r which I was a l ea d in g s c or e r a t th e t ime

of

my suspension and to be

supe rvi sed by

a

Coach who

abused

me ,

an d has

a h i s to ry of abusing h is

p laye r s ,

i s no t a c ce p ta b le to me.

The

absurdness of th e

proposal

to t r y-o ut

n ex t y ear

i s made even c l ea r e r

by

t h i s f a c t

t h a t

you,

every informed

facul ty member, and

me agree t h a t Coach Beaney acted

a rb i t r a r i l y and improperly . Given t ha t , wouldn t yo u have expected t ha t Coach Beaney

would have pe r sona l ly extended me an apology and ca l l ed

th e

team t oge the r

to

expla in

t h a t

he

was

wrong

in

th e

way he conducted h im s el f? S in ce he cou l dn t do t ha t , why would

I

eve r

th ink

he

wa s remorseful fo r what

he

o r

would

ever change

h is behavior?

PageZ of



3/3

R Follow Up

I n s t ead of ensu ring the

protec t ion

of the s tuden t a th l e t e e x c u s e s fo r Coach B ea ney a nd

h is behavior w e re mad e. U n f o r t u n a t e l y du e

to overs ight the s tuden t a th l e t e h a s b ee n ,

a n d cont inues

to

b e margina l i zed in

s i tua t ions

s i m i l a r

to mine.

t

i s c l e a r t ha t

yo u

an d th e c ol le ge knew t ha t Coach B ea ne y h ad

a

h is to ry o f m i st re at in g

s t uden t a t h l e t e s

bu t

ins tead

o f address ing

the i s sue

wa s j u s t g o i n g to b e another in

a l o n g

l ine of p l aye r s

who

would

accept

th e abus e in s i l ence

b e c a u s e ,

a s

e v e r y s tuden t

a t h l e t e

quickly

discovers there

i s a s y s t e m i c pr oblem

in the

C o l l e g e when t

comes

to

dea l ing w i t h abus ive

coaches l ike M r .B eaney.

came to M i d d l e b u r y to b e

a

s tudent a nd to play h o c k e y .

f ind Coach B e a n e y s

behavior

a lo ng w ith the

schools lack o f accountabi l i ty o v e r h is

b e ha v io r u n a cc e pt ab l e. You

have

made

t

c le a r to

me t h a t

the s c h o o l i s

e i t he r unwi l l ing

or

u n a b l e

to place

my

r igh ts

as

a s t uden t a th le te on e q u a l

s t a tu s

w i t h those o f Coach B e a n e y .

And, based

on w h a t

has

b e e n

d o n e s o f a r t a p p e a r s to me t ha t despi te

w h at

yo u have

t o ld

me

in

wri t ing an d

verba l ly the

C o l l e g e

h a s c o n c l u d e d

t ha t

Coach

Beaney

wa s j u s t i f i e d in h is t re at m en t o f

me

a nd

in

making th e

defamatory

comments he made a b o u t

me

to

my

t e a m m a t e s .

in tend to

r e p o r t

t h a t

conclus ion to

my

parents and they

a nd w i l l d e c i d e how we in tend

to

proceed. T hank you

fo r your

t i m e .

Si nce r e l y

Jak Knelman

? ,:

Fro m: Q u i n n , E r i n ~

Sent : Su n d a y , M a r c h . 2 7 , 2011 7:07

PM

To :

K ne lm an , J am es A dle r Jak)

Subjec t : Follow

Up

D e a r Jak

F o l l o w i n g

up on y o u r

emai l have no t

sa id

t h a t we

d id

not h a v e a p r o c e s s i n

p l ~ c e to

d e a l w i t h these s i t ua t i ons .

have

ind ica ted t h a t we do no t

have

a spec i f i c

process

r es em b lin g t he h ea ri ng p r o c e s s yo u hav e b ee n i n t e r e s t e d

in

pursuing.

Ou r

process

i s

t h a t personnel i s s ue s a re handled by me

in

consul ta t ion w i t h s e n io r a d m i n is tr a to r s. We

h a v e s tuden t eva lua t ions

an d

in te rv iews

providing s u f f i c i e n t informa t ion

to address

t h i s

i t u a t ~ o n I n the bigger pic ture of a n n u a l an d

l o n g - t e r m ,

m a j o r evalua t ions

we

c o l l e c t

add i t iona l i n fo r m at io n i n cl u di n g i n t e r na l and ex t e r na l col league r e v i e w s as

we l l .

do

no t

th ink

yo u w a n t to read

a b o u t th e

de t a i l s of

our

long t e rm evalua t ion

processes

b u t

y ou may

f ind

them o n th e

C o l l e g e websi te

in

the

Handbook

u n d e r

R u l e s of

R e a p p o i n t m e n t .

o the rwi se o the r i s s ue s a nd

pr oblems

a re repor ted o n s tudent

eva l ua t i ons di r ec t ly

to

me ,

or

ind i r ec t ly

to

me t h r o u g h a Dean

or

o th er a ge nt o f th e

Col l ege .

Si nce r e l y

Er in Quinn

Page of


ex 16: knelman-quinn email (april 11, 2011)

Documents