USC reaches settlement in Mike Bohn racial harassment lawsuit

USC has settled a lawsuit with a former high-ranking athletic division official who alleged the college allowed former athletic director Mike Bohn to racially harass and discriminate towards her, then fired her when she voiced issues about Bohn’s conduct.

Joyce Bell Limbrick was the highest-ranking Black and feminine official in USC’s athletic division when she was fired by the college in September 2023, 4 months after Bohn resigned amid an inner investigation into his conduct and the tradition of the division. Bell Limbrick filed go well with early final 12 months, accusing USC of wrongful termination.

That dispute was settled out of court docket this week. Phrases of the settlement weren’t disclosed.

When reached by The Occasions, Bell Limbrick declined to remark. Bohn has by no means publicly addressed the allegations.

Whereas the lawsuit by no means made it to trial, it nonetheless provided probably the most detailed account but of the conduct that led to Bohn’s resignation.

Bell Limbrick filed a Title IX criticism with the college towards Bohn in October 2022, after an incident through which she says Bohn punched her on the arm at a USC volleyball match. That criticism in the end compelled an investigation, throughout which, in accordance with her criticism, Bell Limbrick advised USC officers of “Bohn’s historical past and rumors of inappropriate and undesirable touching involving … different females at each Cincinnati and USC.”

The college employed an out of doors legislation agency that focuses on institutional responses to racial and sexual harassment and discrimination to research Bohn 5 months later. The Occasions realized of that investigation shortly thereafter, in addition to a earlier investigation into Bohn’s conduct at Cincinnati, and in Might, requested each Bohn and USC about these issues.

Bohn resigned a day later.

Quickly after that, the college fired Bell Limbrick, citing “a sample of poor efficiency.” She was the one member of an 11-member government staff to lose her job and, in accordance with the criticism, had simply been awarded a “benefit enhance” on account of her “general job efficiency.”

Bell Limbrick labored at USC for 9 years, initially because the director of athletic compliance, earlier than Bohn was employed in 2019. Shortly after he turned athletic director, Bohn promoted Bell Limbrick to senior girl administrator, one of many highest-ranking positions within the division. In line with her criticism, she had been one of many few Black ladies to carry such a place at a serious American college.

“Ms. Bell Limbrick had a thriving profession at USC and she or he liked her work. Then, Mike Bohn arrived,” her legal professional, J. Bernard Alexander, stated in a press release in 2025.

”[Bohn’s] incessant, racially charged remarks made Joyce really feel uncomfortable and undervalued, however greater than that — he actively remoted her from the chief staff and undermined her work. She already was weak as the one Black girl on the staff, and slightly than assist her, the college allowed Bohn to make her life hell.”

Her criticism detailed inappropriate feedback made in entrance of USC donors and employees, in addition to insensitive or discriminatory remarks made in her presence. On the time, The Occasions spoke with six individuals with data of the division’s inside workings who largely corroborated her claims about Bohn’s conduct.

Bohn declined to answer The Occasions’ questions on his conduct main the athletic division, however he supplied a press release to The Occasions on the day of his resignation in Might 2023 stating he would “all the time be pleased with main this system out of probably the most tumultuous occasions within the historical past of the occupation.”

“In transferring on, it is crucial now that I deal with being current with my treasured household, addressing ongoing well being challenges, and reflecting on how I might be impactful sooner or later,” Bohn stated within the assertion.