Whistleblower suit says University of Louisville retaliated for reporting Gaudio extortion

Former University of Louisville attorney Amy Shoemaker claims criminal conduct she was duty-bound to report led to a retaliatory demotion by an administration that may have preferred to suppress scandal.

A whistleblower lawsuit filed Friday In Jefferson Circuit Court alleges Shoemaker's decision to alert campus police to Dino Gaudio's attempted extortion of former U of L basketball coach Chris Mack on March 17, 2021, incurred the wrath of then-President Neeli Bendapudi and resulted in Shoemaker being "frozen out," relieved of some of her responsibilities, subjected to a salary cut and ultimately leaving for a position at Miami University of Ohio.

Shoemaker's complaint says she was berated by Bendapudi for reporting the extortion attempt to authorities and quotes Bendapudi telling her, "Amy! You cannot trust the FBI!" and describing the agency as "tricky."

Shoemaker contends the Clery Act required her to report information concerning criminal activity on campus to law enforcement and the university compliance office in her role as a campus security authority and she expressed concern Gaudio posed a possible threat to Mack or others.

She recounted Wade Smith, Bendapudi's chief of staff, telling her she had exceeded her responsibility and that decisions on what crimes to report were the purview of the president.

Shoemaker's stated concerns apparently came into conflict with the university's preference to handle the matter in-house and avoid the appearance of yet another scandal in the school's signature men's basketball program.

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Mack recorded Guadio venting about not being retained and a subsequent voicemail from Gaudio and then, according to the complaint, reported them to then deputy athletic director Josh Heird and Shoemaker.

Shoemaker subsequently reported Gaudio's conduct to U of L Police Chief Gary Lewis.

Gaudio would go on to be charged with extortion for threatening to share information about U of L's potential NCAA violations with the media unless he was paid to keep quiet.

Mack would be suspended for the first six games of the 2021-22 season, ostensibly for meeting with Gaudio without a witness from human resources. The NCAA responded by reopening an investigation it launched in 2017 and then alleging three new infractions based on Gaudio's recorded rant.

While sentencing Gaudio to a year's probation and a $10,000 fine last August, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton admitted to being puzzled that the matter had risen to a federal case.

Over the next five months, Shoemaker, Bendapudi, athletic director Vince Tyra and Mack all left the university.

A refresher: Ex-Louisville coach Dino Gaudio sentenced to one year probation, $10K fine in extortion case

On Dec. 2, two days after being offered a position at Miami University, Shoemaker filed an internal whistleblower retaliation complaint with U of L's vice president for Risk Audit & Compliance, Sandy Russell.

According to Russell's attorney, Hans Poppe, settlement talks went nowhere.

"It's a mystery to me," Poppe said Tuesday. "We reached out to the university, and they kept wanting additional information and we provided them with what they wanted. They came back with what can only be described as a nominal response that was insulting to say the least.

"It was so small as to be laughable."

Both Poppe and university spokesman John Karman declined to discuss the specific terms of the settlement offer.

"Our policy is that we typically don’t comment on pending litigation," Karman said.

The case has been assigned to Judge Eric Haner.

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Shoemaker says she was 'frozen out' after reporting Gaudio extortion