Cheerleading Coach Files Sexual Harassment Complaint Against Stagg Athletic Director

PALOS HILLS, IL -- A cheerleading coach has filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights alleging she was sexually harassed and groped by the Stagg High School athletic director. The coach now faces termination from her job in what she claims is a retaliatory measure for being a whistleblower against a pattern of sexual harassment by her boss Terry Treasure. The District 230 school board is set to hear a recommendation for her dismissal this Thursday.

Bridget Guzior, a one-time cheerleader at neighboring Sandburg High School in Orland Park, was hired as an extracurricular coach to lead Stagg’s cheerleading program in 2012, which has won several awards under her leadership. Guzior — who is not a Stagg faculty member — says she was placed on suspension Aug. 30 for texting a student, which is against district policy. On Oct. 17, Guzior says she was notified in a letter signed by Dr. Julia Wheaton, District 230’s assistant superintendent of human resources, that administrators were recommending her termination as the program’s coach.

According to a copy of Guzior’s undated complaint to IDHR, provided to Patch by her attorney Thomas Skallas, Guzior said the sexual harassment began in 2014, shortly after Treasure was promoted from assistant principal at Sandburg High School to his current position as Stagg’s athletic director. Guzior was then newly separated from her husband when Treasure brought it up during her year-end review. Telling her she deserved better, she said Treasure remarked that he wished he were “younger and single” because she was “hot and in shape” and she looked like someone “who knows how to take care of a man."

She claims the review ended on a positive note about her work with the program, after which, “Treasure kissed me on the head and hugged me so aggressively my breasts were pulled tight on his chest, where it almost hurt and was grossly inappropriate [at] a supervisor/subordinate meeting.”

During another encounter in his office, when she went to discuss a student athlete, Guzior said she mentioned that the student’s mother was a Stagg alumnus and asked him if he had her as a student.

“... he replied by grabbing his genitals and thrusting his package while replying, ‘well, I never had her,’ pelvic thrust, ‘but I might have had her as a student.’ This was grossly inappropriate and degrading to me as a woman. Mr. Terry Treasure, however, found it quite funny.”

She also maintains that Treasure was subject to “fits of rage” and refused to accept cheerleading as a competitive sport recognized by the IHSA, saying he didn’t have time for “psychotic cheerleading moms living through their daughters.” Guzior’s complaint noted other allegations of Treasure’s inappropriate remarks of a sexual nature toward her and the other cheerleading coaches.

In August, in response to a parent’s complaint Treasure and Stagg associate principal Dr. Ian MacLeod received Aug. 21 about a text she had sent to a student, Guzior said she was summoned to a meeting with both men, according to assistant superintendent of human resources' letter.

“[STUDENT NAME], no matter how much we make each other want to bash our heads into a wall (most times a brick wall) I am so proud of the young adult you have become! Looking forward to an awesome year! Drama free the curse is over the bitch is gone.

“Student response: OMG.”

Guzior had been warned by Stagg principal Eric Olsen during the 2016-17 school year about direct text communication with students, the district maintains. Guzior allegedly told Treasure and MacLeod during the meeting that she was only trying to be “supportive” of the student. A representative from her attorney's office also said the student’s mother was included in the text and was “fine with it.”

Guzior was suspended Aug. 30. It wasn’t until the threat of termination at D230’s board meeting in late September that she brought up the allegations of sexual harassment by Treasure, district administrators claim.

“I have no doubt that this was done out of pure retaliation protecting a loose-lipped man who doesn’t view women as equals,” Guzior said in her complaint to IDHR. She also said she told a “few people,” who shared her disgust, of her concerns about Treasure.

D230 spokeswoman Carla Erdey said that district employees who choose to communicate with students and parents via texting and social media may only do so provided such communications are part of their official duties, and then only for legitimate educational reasons or other school business. District policy also mandates that employees and students restrict electronic communications to each other through their district-issued email accounts.

Citing privacy laws, Erdey said the district is prohibited from discussing the specifics of personnel matters, “however … when reports of sexual harassment are made, District 230 takes such reports very seriously by conducting thorough investigations and taking swift action when appropriate.”

Several students and parents are expected to attend Thursday’s board meeting in support of Guzior, including the mother of the student to whom she texted in August. The D230 Board of Education meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Andrew High School, 9001 W. 171st St., Tinley Park.

This story has been updated to reflect that Terry Treasure was an assistant principal at Carl Sandburg High School before he was named athletic director at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School.