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BELLEFONTE - "Mark my words. If Mike McQueary is in that stadium, we will bring the house down."
***
"This man (McQueary) is a target, and we need to realize that."
***
It was calls and messages like that to the Penn State Athletic Department in the wake of head football coach Joe Paterno's abrupt firing on Nov. 9, 2011, former Penn State Counsel Cynthia Baldwin said, that led to a quick decision to keep Mike McQueary off the field and out of Beaver Stadium for that Saturday's scheduled game.
Baldwin, in an ironic twist, wound up being a staunch defender Tuesday of the university's decision to place McQueary on paid, administrative leave during the upheaval that followed the Nov. 5, 2011 arrest of former PSU football assistant Jerry Sandusky on child sex abuse charges.
Baldwin said the calls and emails started to come in shortly after then-Acting Head Coach Tom Bradley declared, the morning after Paterno's firing, that he expected McQueary would coach in the Nebraska game.
She took the concerns that had been relayed to her about security to newly-appointed Acting President Rodney Erickson, and he moved swiftly - first to ensure that McQueary would not be in attendance at the game.
"Dr. Erickson was very concerned about threats on Mr. McQueary's life," Baldwin said, under cross-examination from attorneys for Penn State. "We'd do what we could do to make him safe."
Baldwin also testified to a follow-up Nov. 13, 2011 meeting at which McQueary was placed on paid administrative leave.
He was told that he would be getting his salary for the remainder of his contract, which ran through June 30, 2012, Baldwin said, but was asked to stay away from all PSU football facilities and stop all work for the team.
Acting Athletic Director Mark Sherburne, meanwhile, also stated that "it has not been determined whether there will be a new contract (for McQueary) at that time."
McQueary, she said, was polite and composed throughout, but not happy about his changing circumstances.
Baldwin recalled McQueary stating that he did not feel that he had done anything wrong, and that he still wanted to coach football at Penn State.
"I said: 'I'll let them know,'" Baldwin said.
The irony in Baldwin's testimony is this:
For most of the life of the Sandusky scandal, she has been poised to be a potentially devastating prosecution witness in the criminal charges against three former Penn State administrators accused of failing to report McQueary's 2001 eyewitness allegation against Sandusky to police or child welfare investigators.
Baldwin dropped out of the criminal case earlier this year, when a Superior Court panel ruled that her presence during the grand jury appearances of the administrators as Penn State's counsel violated their rights to counsel since she later claimed to not be representing the men personally.
On Tuesday, however, it was just like the old days, with Baldwin largely defending everything her former employer did with regard to McQueary's status.
If anything about it strayed from normal university procedure, she added, "we never had an incident where someone's life was in danger if they continued to do the job... And that's what happened with Mr. McQueary."
Sherburne too, in his own turn on the stand, defended Erickson's move.
"I don't think it was unreasonable for the administrative leave," he said.
Baldwin was also asked to testify about the Oct. 28, 2011 meeting at which then-Penn State President Graham Spanier formulated a statement about the pending Sandusky-related charges against his top lieutenants Tim Curley and Gary Schultz.
Like other attendees at that session, Baldwin said stated that McQueary's name never came up at the meeting.
"No one thought about, or mentioned, Mike McQueary," Baldwin said.
Earlier in her testimony, however, Baldwin did make it clear that Spanier, Curley and Schultz - through questioning at their respective grand jury appearances - all would have known that McQueary was the person who'd offered the eyewitness account about Sandusky long before that information became public.
Baldwin, who retired from Penn State in July 2012 and now works part-time as an arbitrator, also reinforced another point for the university Tuesday.
She asserted that it was important during contract negotiations with Bill O'Brien - Penn State's first permanent, post-Paterno head football coach - that O'Brien have the ability to bring in his own coaching staff.
Baldwin noted she wrote O'Brien's contract.
Penn State has argued that that, more than anything, is the reason why McQueary did not return to the field at Beaver Stadium.
[URL='http://co.centre.pa.us/centreco/media/upload/MCQUEARY%20VS%20THE%20PENNSYLVANIA%20STATE%20UNIVERSITY%20COMPLAINT.pdf']The essence of McQueary's case, is that he – as the only PSU assistant to speak out to state investigators on Sandusky allegations - was singled out and treated differently by the university than than other employees who did not come forward with reports about Sandusky.
McQueary has also argued the Penn State administrators' collective failure to act on his initial 2001 report was an intentional misrepresentation that's caused him "irreparable harm to his ability to earn a living, especially in his chosen profession of coaching football."
In his suit, McQueary, now 42, is seeking $4 million in damages to account for the lost wages from what he had expected would have been a career as a high-level football coach.
Penn State counters that McQueary's tribulations since 2012 have more to do with past career choices, and public perceptions the university has nothing to do with, than any direct acts it has taken toward McQueary.
For a whistle-blower suit to succeed, the plaintiff must prove a direct connection between a termination and a good faith report by the employee of wrongdoing that was adverse to his employer's interest.
If that's established, then the burden shifts to the employer to prove that there were other reasons for whatever job action is at question, besides retaliation.
The trial is expected to resume Wednesday, with Sherburne still on the stand.[/URL]
BELLEFONTE - "Mark my words. If Mike McQueary is in that stadium, we will bring the house down."
***
"This man (McQueary) is a target, and we need to realize that."
***
It was calls and messages like that to the Penn State Athletic Department in the wake of head football coach Joe Paterno's abrupt firing on Nov. 9, 2011, former Penn State Counsel Cynthia Baldwin said, that led to a quick decision to keep Mike McQueary off the field and out of Beaver Stadium for that Saturday's scheduled game.
Baldwin, in an ironic twist, wound up being a staunch defender Tuesday of the university's decision to place McQueary on paid, administrative leave during the upheaval that followed the Nov. 5, 2011 arrest of former PSU football assistant Jerry Sandusky on child sex abuse charges.
Baldwin said the calls and emails started to come in shortly after then-Acting Head Coach Tom Bradley declared, the morning after Paterno's firing, that he expected McQueary would coach in the Nebraska game.
She took the concerns that had been relayed to her about security to newly-appointed Acting President Rodney Erickson, and he moved swiftly - first to ensure that McQueary would not be in attendance at the game.
"Dr. Erickson was very concerned about threats on Mr. McQueary's life," Baldwin said, under cross-examination from attorneys for Penn State. "We'd do what we could do to make him safe."
Baldwin also testified to a follow-up Nov. 13, 2011 meeting at which McQueary was placed on paid administrative leave.
He was told that he would be getting his salary for the remainder of his contract, which ran through June 30, 2012, Baldwin said, but was asked to stay away from all PSU football facilities and stop all work for the team.
Acting Athletic Director Mark Sherburne, meanwhile, also stated that "it has not been determined whether there will be a new contract (for McQueary) at that time."
McQueary, she said, was polite and composed throughout, but not happy about his changing circumstances.
Baldwin recalled McQueary stating that he did not feel that he had done anything wrong, and that he still wanted to coach football at Penn State.
"I said: 'I'll let them know,'" Baldwin said.
The irony in Baldwin's testimony is this:
For most of the life of the Sandusky scandal, she has been poised to be a potentially devastating prosecution witness in the criminal charges against three former Penn State administrators accused of failing to report McQueary's 2001 eyewitness allegation against Sandusky to police or child welfare investigators.
Baldwin dropped out of the criminal case earlier this year, when a Superior Court panel ruled that her presence during the grand jury appearances of the administrators as Penn State's counsel violated their rights to counsel since she later claimed to not be representing the men personally.
On Tuesday, however, it was just like the old days, with Baldwin largely defending everything her former employer did with regard to McQueary's status.
If anything about it strayed from normal university procedure, she added, "we never had an incident where someone's life was in danger if they continued to do the job... And that's what happened with Mr. McQueary."
Sherburne too, in his own turn on the stand, defended Erickson's move.
"I don't think it was unreasonable for the administrative leave," he said.
Baldwin was also asked to testify about the Oct. 28, 2011 meeting at which then-Penn State President Graham Spanier formulated a statement about the pending Sandusky-related charges against his top lieutenants Tim Curley and Gary Schultz.
Like other attendees at that session, Baldwin said stated that McQueary's name never came up at the meeting.
"No one thought about, or mentioned, Mike McQueary," Baldwin said.
Earlier in her testimony, however, Baldwin did make it clear that Spanier, Curley and Schultz - through questioning at their respective grand jury appearances - all would have known that McQueary was the person who'd offered the eyewitness account about Sandusky long before that information became public.
Baldwin, who retired from Penn State in July 2012 and now works part-time as an arbitrator, also reinforced another point for the university Tuesday.
She asserted that it was important during contract negotiations with Bill O'Brien - Penn State's first permanent, post-Paterno head football coach - that O'Brien have the ability to bring in his own coaching staff.
Baldwin noted she wrote O'Brien's contract.
Penn State has argued that that, more than anything, is the reason why McQueary did not return to the field at Beaver Stadium.
[URL='http://co.centre.pa.us/centreco/media/upload/MCQUEARY%20VS%20THE%20PENNSYLVANIA%20STATE%20UNIVERSITY%20COMPLAINT.pdf']The essence of McQueary's case, is that he – as the only PSU assistant to speak out to state investigators on Sandusky allegations - was singled out and treated differently by the university than than other employees who did not come forward with reports about Sandusky.
McQueary has also argued the Penn State administrators' collective failure to act on his initial 2001 report was an intentional misrepresentation that's caused him "irreparable harm to his ability to earn a living, especially in his chosen profession of coaching football."
In his suit, McQueary, now 42, is seeking $4 million in damages to account for the lost wages from what he had expected would have been a career as a high-level football coach.
Penn State counters that McQueary's tribulations since 2012 have more to do with past career choices, and public perceptions the university has nothing to do with, than any direct acts it has taken toward McQueary.
For a whistle-blower suit to succeed, the plaintiff must prove a direct connection between a termination and a good faith report by the employee of wrongdoing that was adverse to his employer's interest.
If that's established, then the burden shifts to the employer to prove that there were other reasons for whatever job action is at question, besides retaliation.
The trial is expected to resume Wednesday, with Sherburne still on the stand.[/URL]
