Former Toledo assistant coach sues school for $10M

A former University of Toledo assistant football coach is suing the institution after he claims to have been wrongfully fired due to his race and age.

Craig Kuligowski is seeking more than $10 million in damages from Toledo after being fired in January 2023, and the program hired a younger, black man to replace him.

A recent story from MSN.com detailed the lawsuit by Kuligowski against Toledo. Below is an excerpt from the MSN.com story.

Kuligowski played at Toledo and worked for the football program as an assistant through two separate stints. He earned All-Conference honors in his playing career as an offensive lineman and began coaching at the school in 1992.

His first coaching stint ended in 2001, and he returned in 2020 to take multiple roles including co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

He was inducted into the Toledo Hall of Fame in 2022, one year before he was fired.

Toledo responded to Kuligowski’s claim by stating that he was fired “for violating the University’s non-retaliation and standards of conduct policies.”

A female employee filed a report alleging sexual harassment from Kuligowski in 2022, and he was suspended as a result.

Kuligowski alleges that he was not given a chance to respond to these allegations and that he was not given an explicit reason for his suspension.

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The university says that it did not find Kuligowski “responsible for retaliation without a hearing,” and that he failed to request a “name-clearing hearing” indicating his claim that he was reprimanded without cause.

To read the full story from MSN.com, click here.