A school board meeting erupted in fury after a wrestling coach who was seemingly sacked for alleged transphobia was accused of grooming a former student.
Dave Chiola, a longtime coach at Franklin High School in Livonia, Michigan, was terminated without explanation on November 1.
In a letter sent to parents and seen by WXYZ, it remains unclear as to why he was officially let go – with the letter saying his values don’t align with the district’s.
Chiola said he believes students misinterpreted a private phone conversation about a transgender student and filed a complaint against him.
According to the coach, he was fired without due process and wanted to address comments made about his character.
At the school board meeting to discuss his dismissal on Monday, one speaker read an impact statement which accused Chiola of grooming a former student.
The woman said: ‘This is the true story of former student at Livonia Franklin who was groomed as a child by David Chiola, starting when she met him at 13 years old.’
She said that Chiola groomed her as a child and that he knew of her abusive home environment which he ‘quickly used to his advantage’.
As she spoke, members of the community started attempting to shout down the woman which caused the speaker to call a 20 minute recess.
According to Fox, supporters of the coach then came forward and said the allegations should not be heard at a public forum.
Chiola’s daughter was also reportedly left in tears by the remarks made against her father.
One man said: ‘To bring it into a public forum without any kind of vetting of what happened that night is gross negligence.
‘I am a marine, and I had the building blocks from my wrestling days at Franklin, and I have Dave Chiola to thank for that.’
Speaking at the meeting, Chiola said his firing was poorly handled adding: ‘I’m not going to stand idly by and let my name get dragged through the mud.
‘Ironically, my character was questioned, but I was also asked to lie, and say that I was resigning because of personal problems.
‘Anybody who truly knows me, knows I would never abandon my team with a week before the season unless something was wrong with my daughter.’
School board president Karen Bradford read a statement during the meeting saying the rumors concerning the transgender student were inaccurate.
She said: ‘To be specific, the irresponsible commentary spreading online suggesting that a biological male student requested to utilize shower facilities in the presence of female student-athletes is NOT TRUE.
‘The contention that a dispute over access to locker room facilities for transgender student-athletes was the basis for the termination of the Coach is also NOT TRUE.’
The school district also released a statement saying: ‘We employ almost 2,000 staff members in Livonia Public Schools.
‘All personnel decisions are made with integrity and based on a deliberative review of the individual circumstances that are present.
‘Recently, the administration decided to part ways with the coach in question based on a review of the totality of the facts including previous personnel history.
‘While the focus on social media has been on one specific issue, that is a truncated portrayal of the situation.
‘No other specific information will be shared about this employment situation.’