Paige Shiver said Michigan was aware of her extramarital relationship with disgraced Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore and her terminated pregnancy during their affair.
Shiver, who worked as an intern in the football department and was elevated to executive assistant when Moore moved from offensive coordinator to head coach, said she felt obligated to continue the four-year relationship as Moore took over the football team.
“(Moore) controlled everything that was going on in my life, and (the university) didn’t do anything about it,” the 32-year-old Shiver said in an interview with “Good Morning America” that aired Friday morning.
When the tryst became public, Moore was fired by Michigan after a brief investigation. In the immediate aftermath of the decision, Moore went to Shivers’ residence and she called 911 fearing she would be harmed. Moore was charged with felony home invasion. He reached a plea deal on March 6 and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation on April 14.
Shiver said she feared for her life when she picked up the phone to call for help.
“All of a sudden I hear footsteps and they’re getting closer and louder, and I’m like, ‘Crap,’ so I run to my door to try and lock it,” she told GMA. “He barges in and is standing this close to me and says, ‘You ruined my life. Why would you do this to me?’ I started backing up and he starts following me.
“He’s 6-4 and he comes in with his hood up, looking down at me saying I ruined his life, crying, and it’s like, and he starts coming at me, and I tell him to leave and he’s not supposed to be here, he’s not listening to me, then he starts grabbing butter knives.”
Moore said she frequently tried to end the relationship but Moore always convinced her he was “lost without me.”
Because Shiver has Pompe disease, a genetic condition that causes deterioration of muscle, she said doctors advised her against carrying what she claimed was Moore’s child to term.
“Multiple doctors and experts told me that it wouldn’t be right or healthy for me to keep the baby,” Shiver told GMA.
Shiver said she wanted to keep the baby, but Moore told her, “You have to do what’s right for your body.”
Shiver is no longer employed by Michigan. Her contract with the football department expired in February.
Two Chicago-based attorneys were hired by Shiver to represent her and said the pattern of harassment was not limited to a single incident, time or place.
“The University of Michigan is one of the most well-regarded institutions in the world, yet they have an athletic department that has a pattern and practice of systemic failures,” attorney Andrew M. Stroth said in a statement. “Our pursuit on behalf of Ms. Shiver is to get some level of accountability and justice so this doesn’t happen to other individuals.”
