Mary Willingham adds UNC Chancellor Carol Folt to lawsuit, says she was called a liar
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill advisor Mary Willingham, the whistleblower who claimed some student athletes were functionally illiterate, has amended her lawsuit against UNC to include Chancellor Carol Folt - who she accuses of calling her a liar.
The former UNC reading specialist first became a household name about two years ago when, in published CNN reports, she claimed some student-athletes she worked with could not read and write at anything close to a college level.
In her lawsuit, Willingham claims she was ostracized, harassed, demoted, and reassigned for whistleblowing. She later resigned.
The lawsuit seeks thousands of dollars' worth of damages from the school plus interest.
In CNN's initial stories, Willingham said her research showed that between 8 and 10 percent of UNC basketball and football players were reading at below a third-grade level.
UNC later responded, saying it had commissioned independent experts to review Willingham's work and found flaws in her claims.
Willingham's lawsuit now challenges that response, alleging that Folt and other UNC leaders at a January 2014 meeting "falsely informed the attending members of the UNC-CH Faculty Council that Plaintiff's research into UNC-CH's athlete literacy, as reported by CNN, was 'so flawed' that it had 'no merit.'"
The lawsuit also alleges Folt called Willingham "a 'liar' for having shared her personal research with CNN and others."
Willingham filed a motion to amend her original lawsuit in October.
A federal judge on Monday granted her motion, allowing her to name Folt, Provost James Dean, and others in the civil complaint.
Willingham's attorney, Heydt Philbeck, says they reserve the right to add more names to the suit as they conduct their own investigation.
"She exposed academic fraud," said Philbeck. "UNC-Chapel Hill merely wanted to destroy her reputation in order to keep the status quo."
ABC11 asked whether Willingham plans to use the Wainstein investigative report as part of her argument. Philbeck declined to comment.
UNC has not responded to the amended lawsuit, but when it was first filed in July, the school put out a statement.
"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is aware of the lawsuit filed by former employee Mary Willingham. We respect the right of any current or former employee to speak out on important University and national issues. We believe the facts will demonstrate that Ms. Willingham was treated fairly and appropriately while she was employed at Carolina," said UNC Vice Chancellor of Communications and Public Affairs Joel Curran.
Since the suit was first filed, UNC released a report by former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein on his investigation of alleged academic fraud involving student athletes at the university.
The report covered various academic irregularities, including so-called "paper classes" within the African-American [AFAM] studies department where students did not attend classes and turned in a paper for a grade at the end of the semester.
The report found the classes did exist for 18 years on campus and student athletes were steered into the classes by their academic advisors to keep them eligible to play.
Over the 18-year period, the paper classes involved 3,100 students. Student-athletes accounted for 47.6-percent of them.
The inflated grades from the paper classes made a big difference to student GPAs. On average, they got a .03 grade point boost. For a number of them, it was the difference they needed to reach the 2.0 threshold to play. 329 students got an increase that pushed them above that level, and for 81, it was the difference that allowed them to graduate.
UNC's problems first began in 2010 when it announced it was looking into allegations of plagiarism, tutors who violated rules, faculty who failed to provide oversight, alleged unethical conduct by an assistant coach, and allegations that players got perks from professional sports agents.
The NCAA said the school was "responsible for multiple violations, including academic fraud, impermissible agent benefits, ineligible participation, and a failure to monitor its football program."
Penalties imposed by the association included a one-year postseason ban, a reduction of 15 football scholarships, vacation of records, and three years' probation.
The NCAA has reopened its investigation, but it's not clear what new sanctions the school could face.
Willingham has written a book with UNC History Professor Jay Smith titled "Cheated: The UNC Scandal, the Education of Athletes, and the Future of Big-Time College Sports." It is due out in March.
