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When the first details of the Title IX investigation involving Antonio Callaway came out, it was because lawyers for the woman accusing him of sexual assault were upset at Florida’s choice of adjudicator—a Gators booster who had donated thousands of dollars to the university’s athletics department. The woman ultimately boycotted the hearing in response to what her lawyer, John Clune, called “a fundamentally skewed process.” Today the Tampa Bay Times reports that Callaway’s lawyers were complaining too, but about the person overseeing what happened beforehand, then-associate dean of students/deputy Title IX coordinator for student affairs Chris Loschiavo.


In emails to Florida officials, Callaway’s lawyers raised their issues with Loschiavo, according to the Times. The report does not give the exact dates for when these complaints were submitted to the university, but the Times summarized them this way:

Callaway’s attorneys had raised concerns about Loschiavo in letters to UF officials. His outside consulting work with the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management piqued conflict of interest questions, they wrote. They argued that his role as “the investigator, the prosecutor and the judge” in the case gave the Gator star a raw deal. And they lamented that Callaway’s counter-complaint—which paints Callaway himself as the victim of sexual assault, owing to his lack of sobriety—hasn’t been taken seriously.


When Jacksonville lawyer and football booster Jake Schickel was appointed, Callaway’s lawyers didn’t fight it. But they still insisted that the damage was done because the case had been “corrupted,” the Times reports.

“The University continues to treat Mr. Callaway’s life with reckless disregard for his future by failing to provide him due process and fundamental fairness,” wrote Huntley Johnson.



It’s worth remembering that Johnson has for years been the go-to lawyer for Florida athletes in trouble. Callaway was cleared Aug. 12. The Times reports that Loschiavo’s termination letter was dated Aug. 23 and the university is conducting an internal investigating as well. A spokeswoman refused to comment to the Times on if the complaints raised by Callaway’s lawyers were related to the firing.

[Tampa Bay Times]