Report: Mike Bohn fostered 'discriminatory' environment at Cincinnati, former coworkers allege

Bohn, the former USC AD, has come under fire before

Last Friday, former USC athletic director Mike Bohn resigned following an investigation into workplace culture within the Trojans athletic department.

To conduct the investigation, USC retained Gina Maisto Smith, a Philadelphia-based attorney from Cozen O’Connor earlier this year, according to the LA Times.

"Four current and former USC employees said that staffers inside the athletics department had raised concerns to the law firm about Bohn," per the Times. 

Issues regarding Bohn's conduct had also come up during his previous stint as AD at the University of Cincinnati, according to the Times.

The Athletic dug into exactly what transpired with Bohn at Cincinnati in a story released on Thursday. 

Karen Hatcher, an executive senior associate AD at Cincinnati, alleged "discriminatory and other professional misconduct” against Bohn, which prompted an investigation that was completed after Bohn had left for USC. 

"The investigation described a series of racially insensitive remarks made by Bohn, including Bohn telling Hatcher “I’d be careful with diverse pools” in regard to Hatcher hiring for a development position in the fall of 2018. Hatcher told the investigators that Bohn’s “repeated, racially charged, disrespectful comments caused distress” to her as well as others. ... Bohn told Omar Banks, a Black male and former CFO at Cincinnati, that Hatcher was “only successful in athletics because she is an African American woman” and challenged her knowledge of the position, according to the document. ... The investigation also described a meeting with senior athletic leadership during which Bohn stated that other universities were only interested in conducting job interviews with Banks because he is Black. Banks also told investigators that due to Bohn’s negative treatment toward him, Banks felt “devalued” and left the University for an opportunity at another institution in early 2017."

A second investigation into Bohn's athletics department at Cincinnati characterized the department “as having a toxic atmosphere," according to the Athletic. 

Additionally, Bohn was accused by Kim McGraw, a former associate AD and senior accountant, of offering her male colleagues a larger raise than she was set to receive in 2017. 

USC'S NEXT MOVE

USC president Carol Folt named Denise Kwok, USC’s executive senior associate athletic director for student-athlete development, as the school's interim executive administrator on Wednesday.

No timetable has been given regarding when USC will hire Bohn's replacement.