26-07-2025
Staff claim state-funded school is TOXIC as $205k-a-year 'marketing guru's sick Post-it notes' revealed
Top Utah Tech University administrators covered a breakroom cabinet with crude and inappropriate notes, a bombshell lawsuit claims.
Three school employees initially sued the university in November, claiming they were the victims of a toxic work environment.
A recently unsealed court document obtained by Daily Mail alleges that a metal cabinet in the university's marketing department break room was allegedly covered in over 200 vulgar Post-it notes.
Nearly a quarter of the notes are attributed to the Vice President of Marketing and Communication, Jordon Sharp, whose salary in 2024 was $205,658, according to Utah's state transparency website.
The notes Sharp allegedly wrote include, 'I've accidentally hired two prostitutes' and 'Oh my gosh. I just grabbed his little penis. That felt really unnatural.'
Other messages he is accused in the complaint of writing are: 'She tried to put her balls in my mouth' and 'Eat those ball(s) or throw them away.'
'Do you have any friends that are minority or ethnic in nature? Could you bring any of those?' the complaint alleges he penned.
'You can both go to hell and have a great day,' and 'If you ever feel stressed, come on over & smack it till you smile' are also notes the court claims Sharp wrote.
Other notes allegedly include: 'She bugs the p**s out of me. It's all over the floor,' and 'Do you like red balls?... better than blue.'
The lawsuit was filed by Becky Broadbent, the university's former general counsel; Jared Rasband, the former Senior Associate General Counsel; and Hazel Sainsbury, Utah Tech's Title IX coordinator.
They launched their case after Utah Tech's former President Richard 'Biff' Williams allegedly gave Sharp a phallic-shaped vegetable display and listed the plaintiffs' names as the senders in November 2023.
'[Williams] left a display of an assortment of vegetables shaped as male genitalia, including a long zucchini referred to as a "zuweenie," on VP Sharp's front porch to "help" with his recovery from his medical procedure that day,' the lawsuit says.
The group believes framing them for the raunchy gift was retaliation for their response to discovering the Post-it note cabinet, the lawsuit claims.
According to the complaint, after discovering the cabinet in September 2021, the plaintiffs stated that they were legally obligated to report it, but human resources minimized the misconduct.
'These Post-it Notes were highly obscene, offensive, and vulgar, and included derogatory references to sex, race, individuals, and investigations conducted by the University,' the lawsuit said.
'Plaintiffs were viewed unfavorably by Sharp, other senior administrators, and the UMAC department, for simply fulfilling their job responsibilities.'
Sainsbury told The Salt Lake Tribune that when she first learned of the notes, she thought it was 'too outrageous to be true'.
'Nothing prepared me for the shock of seeing that wall of Post-it notes,' she said. 'But there I was, standing in front of something even worse than I had imagined.
'What I saw was not just a violation of policy - it was a reflection of a culture where power protected certain individuals from scrutiny, even when their behavior was clearly inappropriate.'
Daily Mail contacted the employees' lawyers, Utah Tech University and the Utah Attorney General's office, which is representing the school, for comment.
The school said in a statement to Daily Mail: 'As a university, we are focused on the future and moving forward together and continuing to build upon our university's incredible momentum.
'However, the university acknowledges challenges over the past few years, including an internal confidential Title IX investigation conducted four years ago related to a quote board, which included statements taken out of context.
'When the University's Title IX coordinator investigated a complaint connected to the quote board in September 2021, no Title IX-related policy implications were identified.
'Subsequently, the university conducted a separate HR process and implemented corrective measures.
'As we look to the future under new leadership, the university remains focused on continuing to make positive changes for the benefit of our students, our mission and the community we're building together.'
Broadbent, Rasband and Sainsbury claimed they suffered as a result of the administrators' actions and are seeking damages to be determined at trial.
The university has sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that Utah's governmental immunity law protects it because it is a public university.
