Strippers who entertained at University of Colorado parties told an independent investigator that partygoers – including football players – would pass a hat to pay them, each person chipping in $5 to $10.
Sometimes the women would decide to have sex for money, but that depended on “who the players are and how much money there is,” according to a deposition by Steven Snyder, hired by an independent commission probing CU’s football program.
The 220-page sworn statement, released Wednesday, depicted a permissive party scene and a culture of secrecy surrounding the football program’s off-field activities.
Snyder repeatedly said he was told about “the code” within the school’s sports program, which was recounted as: “What happens in the athletic department stays in the athletic department.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer, who is presiding over a now-dismissed lawsuit against CU, ordered the 2004 deposition released, saying there was no reason to keep it under wraps.
But it was a ruling by Shaffer on Wednesday that CU turn over two CU police reports that could give plaintiffs greater traction in getting their lawsuit reinstated.
Former CU student Lisa Simp son and another woman have accused the university of fostering a sexually hostile environment that led to their being assaulted. A federal judge in March dismissed the lawsuit, saying the women didn’t prove the university was “deliberately indifferent” to the risk that players and recruits would assault women.
Shaffer’s ruling Wednesday means lawyers for the women will get reports in which two student athletic trainers recount being sexually assaulted – one by a football recruit.
Simpson’s lawyers have contended that these reports may help them show a pattern of assaults and give them the proof they need to revive the lawsuit.
“We’re certainly hopeful that it will be very helpful,” said Kimberly Hult, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
However, it was the release of the deposition, which provided a window into the investigative process, that a lawyer for CU called “another attempt by plaintiffs to spread gossip and innuendo.”
Larry Pozner, who represents CU, said Snyder’s deposition, which recounted what people told the investigator, is hearsay and would be inadmissable at trial. “This is a sideshow,” Pozner said.
The deposition included pointed questions by Simpson’s lawyers about whether CU tried to intimidate Snyder. The investigator said Simpson’s lawyers and CU lawyers asked him to work for them on their civil case after the independent commission disbanded.
Snyder, who ultimately decided not to work for either side, said in the deposition that he received a letter from CU saying it would be unethical for him to work for Simpson’s lawyers.
Snyder recounted a phone call from a lawyer working for CU who said it would be bad for his reputation and career to work for the plaintiffs.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
