Former UMBC athletic director moves defamation suit to state court

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of a story originally published Wednesday.

Brian Barrio, the former athletic director at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has moved his defamation lawsuit against the school from federal court to the Howard County Circuit Court.

Barrio, who says UMBC “scapegoated” him amid a swimming coach’s sexual misconduct scandal, on Monday filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in federal court and re-filed a nearly identical complaint in state court. He originally sued about six weeks ago.

The defendants — UMBC, the University System of Maryland, and UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby — never answered the lawsuit or filed a motion for summary judgment, the notice states.

It’s not clear why the venue of the suit changed. Barrio’s legal team, from the firm Offit Kurman, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Wednesday. On Thursday, attorney Niall McMillan declined to comment and did not explain the change of venue. UMBC’s director of media relations did not answer a call and an email seeking comment.

Hired by UMBC in early 2020, Barrio claimed he was the first one to hold swimming coach Chad Cradock accountable for sexual misconduct against male swimmers. He stated in his complaint that soon after they returned to campus in September 2020, swimmers confided in him and he suspended Cradock.

“Brian was responsible for ‘blowing the whistle’ on Coach Cradock and bringing an end to the abuse he had forced on countless UMBC student athletes that were entrusted to his care and oversight,” the complaint stated. “If not for the actions of Brian, the abuse and assaults would have continued unabated.”

He sued in August, four months after UMBC fired him and settled with victims for $4.1 million. He accused the school of libel and of lying to him during the recruitment process. He also said Ashby promised him a contract extension when he told her he was being recruited by another university, but fired him two months later.

The Department of Justice in March published a Title IX investigation into the UMBC swimming program covering the period from 2015 to 2020. The report stated that “the University knew of this sex discrimination but did not respond adequately.”

It described Cradock’s abuse of male swimmers and said male swimmers committed sexual assault and dating violence against their female teammates. Cradock was said to have touched male athletes without their consent, and kept a camera in his locker, which he used to record them showering.

“Although the Head Coach was placed on leave in October 2020, and later died in March 2021, the findings described in this letter show University-wide failures well beyond the conduct of this coach that left student athletes vulnerable to ongoing sexual harassment,” it stated. The investigation did not mention Barrio.

Barrio accused UMBC of keeping him in the dark during the recruiting process in late 2019, even though he sought details about how the athletic department handled Title IX complaints.

“Had UMBC been even remotely truthful regarding Cradock and the allegations that had been made (and covered up) about him, Brian would not have even considered UMBC.”

His complaint did not include details from 2021 through 2023. It says the DOJ investigation was when he “first learned of the depth of the misconduct committed by Cradock and the lengths to which the UMBC Administration went in covering it up.”

If the parties settle, the agreed amount would require public approval by the Maryland Board of Public Works.