Misconduct complaints against former Athletics Director Stuart Robinson went unaddressed by human resources long before he was suspended following allegations of sexual harassment, multiple sources close to the Athletics Department told WSN. NYU parted ways with Robinson late last week. 

Prior to being hired by NYU, Robinson was named in a 2018 Title IX lawsuit filed by a former State University of New York, New Paltz lacrosse coach. The case alleges that Robinson made sexual comments toward the coach when they worked together at New Paltz, and refused to allocate equal resources to men’s and women’s athletic teams at the university. 

Multiple sources close to the Athletics Department told WSN that some staff had been the targets of inappropriate behavior from Robinson, and that others had raised concerns about gender discrimination under his leadership. The sources asked to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns.

“What happened at New Paltz has been happening in our Athletics Department for over a year. I can tell you countless women have gone to HR to report behaviors,” one source said. “All we wanted to do was our jobs.”   

The source also told WSN they had brought concerns of gender discrimination in the department to human resources nearly a year before Robinson’s suspension, and that their complaints went unaddressed. Multiple sources confirmed that complaints were raised inside the department, but said little action was taken before this summer, when Robinson was suspended. 

“They went to our departmental HR person and said, ‘Hey, I have this problem,’” another source close to the department said. “And we were kind of brushed aside.”

The second source also said that before the announcement of Robinson’s departure earlier this week, some in the department were scared to speak out about their experiences with the former director. They said many athletics staff were relieved when they learned he would not be returning.  

“Everybody just breathed a sigh of relief,” the source said. “We’ve been suffering in silence.”

NYU did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

Contact Ania Keenan at [email protected].