By Daniel Libit

An Office of Equal Opportunity complaint was filed against University of New Mexico Deputy Athletic Director David Williams, NMFishbowl.com has learned.

In response to a document request last month, UNM’s public records custodian “identified responsive records” related to an OEO complaint against Williams but refused to release them, claiming they are exempt from disclosure.

NMFishbowl.com formally sought those materials after receiving an anonymous tip earlier this year. The tipster elaborated on the alleged subject of the complaint, but NMFishbowl.com has not yet been able to independently verify that information. It is not clear what the current status of the complaint is or if it has been adjudicated.

OEO complaints are often made by those alleging discrimination, harassment or retaliation in the workplace. Under UNM’s policy, the subject of a complaint is entitled to know the identity of the complainant and the specific accusations that have been leveled against them.

Williams, who earns $145,000 per year as the Lobos’ third highest-paid sports administrator, was the first big hire UNM Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez made after taking the reins. Williams replaced Brad Hutchins, who UNM paid $175,000 to buy out of the final year of his contract to clear the way for Nuñez’s hand-picked lieutenant.

Upon the hiring, Nuñez extolled Williams as a “proven leader” and “a great fit for the culture we are building at UNM.”

However, Williams came to Albuquerque with a checkered professional past, having been suspended from his previous job as athletic director of Missouri Western State following a drunk driving arrest. Although he briefly returned to that position, his contract was not renewed. He subsequently was hired as deputy AD at the University of South Dakota, where he worked until taking the Lobos post last January.

After NMFishbowl.com reported on his 2010 DWI, Williams told the Albuquerque Journal that he was “glad it came out.”

“So now I’m not always wondering when it’s going to come up,” he said. “I’ve tried to figure out how to make it a positive. What I think it did at that moment I became more of a continual learner in my life.”

Neither Williams, Nuñez, nor UNM’s OEO Director Francie Cordova responded this week to email requests for comment.

Featured Image via oeo.unm.edu