LSU Coach Ed Orgeron Asked to Testify Before State Senate Committee
Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Sports
A Louisiana state senate committee formally requested LSU coach Ed Orgeron to testify following Gloria Scott's testimony that Orgeron knew Derrius Guice sexually harassed her.
The hearing is scheduled for April 8, but the head coach has not responded, according to Sen. Regina Barrow. He has until Tuesday to reply.
Scott, a 74-year-old who worked part-time security at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, testified last week that Orgeron knew about Guice's actions and lied to investigators about it.
She recalled when the then LSU player and his friends approached her at at her post outside Elevator 8 in Bunker G in 2017.
“I like to f--- women like you, you older women, because y'all know y'all like us young men to f--- y'all,” Scott said Guice told her. “And, you know you want this body.”
Guice continued to sexually harass the then 70-year-old, making vulgar comments and rubbing his body up and down from his chest to his genitals, according to USA Today.
Scott told lawmakers during the March 26 hearing that she tried to report the incident to LSU athletic department administrators, the school’s student accountability director and directly to Guice’s head coach, Orgeron. However, the school didn't take action.
Orgeron later called Scott to ask her to forgive Guice, calling him a "troubled child." The head coach continued, telling her that the player was "just kidding."
“I was so hurt and so nervous and so upset,” Scott said during the Senate Select Committee on Women and Children hearing on March 26. “Never in my life have I had a man or child talk to me like he did.”
“It doesn’t matter how good of a player, football, basketball. You still have to do something when they do something wrong,” she added.
The committee is holding hearings on LSU’s failure to comply with Title IX requirements to report and investigate incidents of sexual misconduct after the school released the Husch Blackwell report. This document included sexual misconduct allegations against former head football coach Les Miles, who recently parted ways with Kansas amid the fallout.
Scott's testimony calls into question whether Orgeron lied to independent investigators who probed the incident as a part of the larger investigation into the school's failure to handle sexual misconduct reports. In his interview with Husch Blackwell, Orgeron reportedly denied having direct communications with Scott.
On WNXX-FM, 104.5's Off the Bench earlier this week, Orgeron said Scott's testimony was the first time he heard of "all the horrible details" about the encounter. He added that he was "sickened by what she went through."
"As I told them," Orgeron said Tuesday, "I truthfully do not remember speaking with Ms. Scott three years ago. But I do know Ms. Scott deserves to be heard and admired for her courage. I have been, and I will continue to be committed to a culture of integrity and compliance."
