A whistleblower lawsuit recently filed against the University of Louisville alleges the school’s then-president, Neeli Bendapudi, who is now president of Penn State, retaliated against a high-ranking employee for reporting a former assistant basketball coach’s extortion attempt to law enforcement.
Amy Shoemaker, Louisville’s former deputy general counsel and associate athletics director, claims that she was demoted after Bendapudi became angry that Shoemaker informed the university’s police chief in 2021 about former assistant men’s basketball coach Dino Gaudio’s threat to head coach Chris Mack to expose alleged recruiting violations if he were not paid a lump sum of 18 months salary in severance upon his termination.
Gaudio eventually pleaded guilty to a federal charge of attempted extortion.
The lawsuit also alleged Bendapudi’s chief of staff, Michael Wade Smith, who now holds the same position at Penn State, informed Shoemaker she should not have gone to police but instead should have let Bendapudi decide what to do.
Bendapudi, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, was Louisville’s president from April 2018 until she was appointed as Penn State’s next leader in December 2021. She officially took office at Penn State in May.
“My commitment to ethical conduct and treating people the right way has been unwavering throughout my career,” Bendapudi said in a statement provided by the university. “The teams I have built at multiple institutions reflect these bedrock...
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