Questions Still Remain About Sexual Misconduct Scandal Surrounding Oxy Athletics Trainer

A longtime Occidental College athletics trainer and Eagle Rock resident who resigned last month following allegations that he sexually harassed female students is at the center of another controversy over whether or not he should be officially listed as a sexual predator, and if Oxy Director of Athletics Jaime Hoffman failed to take timely action against him.

In a letter to the editor published Tuesday in Occidental Weekly, Philip Niklaus, the father of one of the students reportedly harassed by Head Athletic Trainer John Sweet during 2008-2009, demanded that Hoffman should be held accountable for allegedly not addressing the sexual harassment scandal in her department when it first came to light in 2009.

Niklaus wrote in his letter that although he formally complained to “virtually everyone in authority in the Oxy administration” in March 2009 after Sweet allegedly subjected Niklaus’ daughter Emily to sexual harassment, he never received a reply from the college.

“Hoffman or other administration representatives did virtually nothing—in essence answering the allegation by saying that Sweet would be made to undergo counseling,” Niklaus wrote. “Whether he did or not I do not know, but regardless Sweet apparently did not change.”

Occidental College Director of Communications Jim Tranquada confirmed to Eagle Rock Patch that allegations of sexual misconduct against Sweet resurfaced in February 2013 and “involved inappropriate behavior that was even more serious” than four years ago.

“Athletics immediately placed Mr. Sweet on leave and required him to stay off campus while Human Resources and Oxy's Title IX officer conducted a thorough investigation,” Tranquada said in an e-mail communication with Patch. “Mr. Sweet chose to resign on March 1 rather than contest the allegations.”

Tranquada did not give details of the latest round of sexual misconduct allegations against Sweet, “given that this is a personnel matter and one in which Occidental students have an expectation of privacy.”

But Occidental Weekly quoted Emily Niklaus as saying that Sweet would ask her “what type of underwear I was wearing.” The weekly quoted another student, who chose not to file a formal complaint against Sweet, as saying:

“It would be one of those things where he’d be stretching me out, and I’d be like, ‘Something about this isn’t right.’ His hands would get closer and closer to questionable spots. It got to the point where it would be really uncomfortable, but because he was in a position where he should be stretching you out and touching you, I didn’t really know if I should say anything, because I didn’t know if what he was doing was meant to be or not. It was almost as if he was testing the waters to see if I would acknowledge it.”

According to Philip Niklaus, his daughter was discouraged from filing a complaint against Sweet. “Basically what they said was, ‘You’re really sensitive, and you don’t have the basis to file a formal complaint,’” Oxy Weekly quoted Niklaus was as saying. “So they basically just tried to get me to be quiet about it. Jaime Hoffman was really dismissive and almost combative toward me. She wouldn’t hear anything I had to say.”

Niklaus also alleged that Hoffman canceled a meeting with him when she was informed that an attorney would be present. “I believe the current controversy involving Sweet and the Oxy athletic department raises two questions,” Oxy Weekly quouted Niklaus as saying. “1. Should Sweet be listed in a sexual predator registry? 2. Should Jaime Hoffman continue as athletic director?”

In response to the allegations of sexual harassment, the college officially reprimanded Sweet and changed his work schedule “so that the impacted student athletes would not have to work with him,” Tranquada told Patch, adding that in addition to the mandatory sexual harassment training for Oxy employees, the trainer was required to—and did—complete additional harassment training.

Citing privacy issues, Tranquada refused to comment on whether or not Sweet continued to train female athletes after he was reprimanded and his work schedule changed. The communications director also refused to say if Hoffman discouraged Emily Niklaus from filing a formal complaint against Sweet.

“We believe that the response by Athletic Director Jaime Hoffman was reasonable and appropriate in light of the nature of the complaints and the fact that Mr. Sweet had no prior history of such conduct in his previous 35 years with the college,” Tranquada said.