Former UCF defensive coordinator Paul Ferraro has filed a lawsuit against the UCF Board of Trustees and UCF Athletics Association, court records show.
In the lawsuit which was filed on Sept. 26 2014, Ferraro accuses UCF head coach George O’Leary “of making discriminatory remarks about African-Americans and persons of Jewish descent,” and lays out claims of breach of express contract, unpaid wages, whistleblowing, tortious interferences and civil conspiracy. Ferraro is seeking damages in excess of $15,000.
The 21-page lawsuit has Ferraro recalling specific incidents that O’Leary allegedly made racial slurs. Ferraro claims that when he and O’Leary were discussing hiring an African-American coach if Summers left for a position at Georgia, Ferraro alleges that O’Leary stated “if we can find one [an African-American coach], hire one,” but that “all those coons are in the NFL. It’s [the NFL] one big ‘Ru-Ru’ tribe.”
In another incident Ferraro recalls in the lawsuit, Ferraro claims that O’Leary said he had spoken with a former assistant, who is now a head coach in the NFL, and that he (O’Leary) had advised his former assistant that, while at the upcoming NFL combine in Indianapolis, to “check the [African-American] players to make sure that their gums are blue, because they are bigger, faster and stronger than [African- American] players with red gums.”
“UCF immediately investigated the allegations Mr. Ferraro made when he abruptly abandoned his job. The university’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office found the allegations to be untrue,” said UCF Vice President for Communications and Marketing Grant Heston. “None of the individuals alleged to have been the subject of, or to have overhead, these supposed statements corroborated Mr. Ferraro’s claims. In fact, until seeking compensation after abandoning his job, it does not appear he ever discussed this with anyone at UCF.”
Ferraro was hired by UCF on Dec. 28, 2013 and left the program in early March.
When Ferraro left the program, O’Leary told the Orlando Sentinel that Ferraro left for personal reasons and did not elaborate on the reasons for departure.
In the lawsuit, Ferraro claims to have wrote an e-mail to O’Leary on Feb. 25 2014 objecting to O’Leary’s actions and copied the assistant coaches on the e-mail. Ferraro claims to have been contacted by UCF Associate Athletic Director for Human Resources, Brian Reed, later that same day where he told Reed about “the discriminatory and hostile work environment.”
Ferraro claims in the lawsuit that he “expressly told Reed that he was not resigning, but simply reporting the conduct” and Reed advised UCF Athletic Director Todd Stansbury that Ferraro was not resigning.
Ferraro claims that on Feb. 26 2014, he was placed on notice of his alleged resignation, with the effective date being March 11, 2014, by Stansbury.
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