Photo: Icon Sportswire via AP Images; Chandler LeCroy/Instagram
The University of Georgia’s Athletics Association has fired an employee who survived the Jan. 15 crash that left two a football player and a staffer dead, the school confirmed toESPN.
Victoria “Tory” Bowles, a former football recruiting analyst, was fired nearly one month after she filed a lawsuit against the school’s athletics department and Philadelphia Eagles rookieJalen Carter, who was involved in thedeadly crash that killed staffer Chandler LeCroyand playerDevin Willock.
The university cited Bowles' alleged refusal to cooperate with an internal investigation into the crash as cause for her dismissal, specifically for declining to release her phone for the investigation,Fox Atlantareported.
However, her attorneys claim that the university is retaliating against her for filing the complaint against the school’s athletics department, according to ESPN.
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According to the outlet, Bowles filed the complaint in Gwinnett County, alleging that the university’s athletics department was negligent in renting the Ford Expedition to LeCroy, who was driving under the influence at the time of the crash.
However, Bowles' lawsuit states this is not the case, accusing the department of contradictory statements. “On the evening of the Championship Celebration, LeCroy told Ms. Bowles that she [LeCroy] had ‘permission’ to keep the SUV ‘until tomorrow,'” the lawsuit said, ESPN reported.
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“Numerous text messages from recruiting staff supervisors to LeCroy, Ms. Bowles and other staff members show the Association’s statement is false,” the lawsuit stated, adding that recruiting staff were “regularly informed” they were permitted to “leave their personal vehicles overnight at the Butts-Mehre football facility and permissively use Association rental vehicles through a specified cut-off date and time, unrelated to their assigned recruiting activity duties.”
The University of Georgia did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Bowles’ lawsuit also names LeCroy’s estate as a defendant alongside Carter and the UGA Athletics Department,ESPNreported.
She is seeking “at least $171,595 in general damages in addition to punitive damages,” according to the outlet.
LeCroy was found to be intoxicated andbelieved to be driving 104 miles per hour, before she lost control of her vehicle — striking a curb, power pole and utility pole before hitting a tree, according to police. Willock, an offensive lineman, was ejected from the vehicle during the crash and died at the scene. LeCroy, who had a blood alcohol concentration of .197 during the time of the crash, died in the hospital.
Carter, a former star for the Bulldogs who is now on the Philadelphia Eagles roster, is also named in Bowles' lawsuit. Police claimed that Carter had been racing LeCroy’s car in the moments before the crash and charged him with two misdemeanors: reckless driving and racing.
In March, anarrest warrant was issued for Carterfor his alleged involvement in the crash. He later pled no contest to the charges andwas sentenced to 12 months probation, 80 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
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The crash came just hours after fans packed UGA’s Sanford Stadium to celebrate the team’s national championship. Former players, likeJordan Davis of the Philadelphia Eagles, and current players, like linebacker Nolan Smith, shared tributes to both Willock and LeCroy on social media.
“Watching them grow and become like family over these few years. There is no grief without love, and we love both of you like family,” Davis wrote.
source: people.com
