Colorado’s second-highest court determined on Thursday that a state agency wrongly concluded a former University of Colorado skiing coach was disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits because of inappropriate comments he made to female students three months before his termination.

Andy LeRoy was briefly CU’s head ski coach from 2021-2023 following his career as an Olympian and University of Denver coach. CU had no comment on his January 2023 departure at the time.

After LeRoy applied for and was denied unemployment benefits, he contested the circumstances of his termination.

A hearing officer heard testimony that LeRoy exhibited “a pattern of unacceptable and inappropriate comments that were interpreted as sexual in nature directed at student athletes.” The first set of complaints arose in October 2022 and LeRoy received a letter warning that he had made female athletes feel uncomfortable and he could be terminated for any “further issues.”

LeRoy signed the letter and acknowledged at the hearing that he did make the problematic comments.

CU officials further testified that in January 2023, there were two more reports of LeRoy allegedly making sexual comments to a student.

Because unemployment benefits are designed to compensate workers who lose their job through no fault of their own, Colorado law allows the withholding of payments if employees are terminated for, among other things, “rudeness, insolence, or offensive behavior.“

A hearing officer concluded LeRoy was at fault for his job separation because of his inappropriate interactions with female athletes.

However, a panel of the Industrial Claim Appeals Office repeatedly returned the case to the hearing officer after finding problems with the hearsay testimony about LeRoy’s alleged comments in January 2023. Ultimately, the hearing officer clarified LeRoy was fired because of both the October 2022 and the January 2023 reports.

The Industrial Claim Appeals Office’s panel upheld the hearing officer’s third decision on the grounds that LeRoy’s “rude, insolent, or offensive” comments in October 2022 contributed to his termination.

After noting they could only overturn the decision if the evidence did not support it, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals concluded the order denying LeRoy unemployment benefits was faulty. Specifically, it was not the case that LeRoy’s October 2022 comments caused his termination.

“It is undisputed that LeRoy was issued a letter of reprimand and required to undergo educational training because he made inappropriate comments to female student-athletes in October. But he was not terminated as a result of those comments,” wrote Judge David H. Yun in the Jan. 2 opinion.

Without any further evidence that LeRoy was insolent or offensive after his October warning, the Court of Appeals concluded the order denying unemployment benefits was wrong to find LeRoy at fault.

LeRoy’s attorney declined to comment immediately on the court’s opinion.

The case is LeRoy v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office et al.