Bobby Hurley’s private war with Arizona State after wife’s sexual harassment claim

Bobby Hurley and his athletic director are at odds, clashing over allegations of sexual harassment committed by a major Arizona State donor.

In an email exchange, Hurley expressed his displeasure with how Ray Anderson handled the behavior of booster Bart Wear, calling the athletic director’s actions “disturbing,” Yahoo Sports reported.

“I thought there would be more sensitivity and consideration to all victims involved relative to [redacted]’s attendance at our basketball game. … You had prior knowledge that he was going to be in attendance and that was very disappointing,” Hurley, the Arizona State basketball coach, wrote in the email to Anderson.

“Mainly because you made no effort to make me aware of that, especially after you came to practice on Thursday and assured me that [redacted] would no longer be around men’s basketball. This was very misleading, and I feel I have been lied to.”

Wear was accused of harassing three women, including Hurley’s wife Leslie. In the email, Hurley wrote that Anderson has rated the harassment on a scale.

“You have disregarded the safety and shown no sensitivity towards the women that have experienced sexual assault,” Hurley wrote. “You have chosen to create your own numeric scale on what sexual assault mean[s] which is disturbing.”

Anderson responded to Hurley’s email, according to Yahoo, and called Hurley’s accusations “false and baseless.”

“Your approach here is puzzling,” he wrote. “This matter should now be firmly put in the hands of the lawyers. I will not engage with you directly on the [redacted] matters.”

Wear allegedly harassed Kath Cohen, the wife of former Arizona State senior associate athletic director David Cohen, Leslie Hurley and another unnamed woman. Arizona State was admittedly slow to respond and told Yahoo Sports in February that the issue “could have been resolved in a quicker time frame.”

Wear’s season tickets were canceled on Dec. 10.

David Cohen was placed on administrative leave and later fired in December, following his complaints that Wear’s behavior was covered up by the athletic department. He then filed a $1.5 million claim in February against the school for lost wages and pain, suffering and emotional harm. Included in the claim were details of the harassment.

During the 2019 Pac-12 tournament, Wear put his hands around Kathy Cohen’s waist, sidled up next to her and said: “Dave is lucky to have you,” according to the claim. Cohen’s lawyers also alleged that a different woman accused Wear of rubbing her back and another said he put his hand on her leg. Wear has denied these claims and filed a $5 million claim against the school on the basis that the investigation into him ignored witnesses and relevant information.

“A review of [the] report showed bias, exaggeration, conclusions not based on credible information and a complete failure to even attempt to speak to the eye witnesses Wear provided that would have contradicted the claims,” Wear’s attorney wrote in the claim.

Azcentral.com reported that Arizona State confirmed the harassment following an investigation, but said that wasn’t the reason Cohen was fired.