Mohamed Muqtar, a former Cal Athletics employee, was found to have violated UC Berkeley’s sexual violence and sexual harassment policy, according to an internal investigation.
In mid-January, former Cal women’s basketball player and current WNBA player Layshia Clarendon filed a lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents, alleging that she was sexually assaulted by Muqtar. An investigation, which is now closed, was then launched by the campus’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination.
Muqtar has been terminated from his position as of May 11, 2018, according to a statement from Cal Athletics. He “was found to have violated the university’s sexual violence and sexual harassment policy, involving several former student-athletes,” the statement said.
A total of seven women alleged abuse by Muqtar, with claims dating back nearly 20 years, but Clarendon’s case has received the most publicity.
In its statement, Cal Athletics called the report’s findings “appalling” and “wholly unacceptable,” adding that such misconduct has “no place” on campus.
“Our primary goal as an athletic department is to support and provide an outstanding student-athlete experience, and it pains us to hear about these actions by one of our employees who student-athletes turned to as a trusted adviser,” Cal Athletics said in the statement.