Utah Tech University employees — including a school vice president — allegedly displayed their sexual remarks on a breakroom wall filled with Post-it notes.
Read the ‘inappropriate’ Post-it notes left in a Utah Tech University office, cited in lawsuit alleging a toxic workplace A judge ordered that a document listing the comments be unsealed in a lawsuit against the school that alleges a toxic workplace.
Pictured is the cabinet at Utah Tech University that was covered with Post-it notes — which have been redacted for privacy in this photo — that included crude sayings from staff members of the school's marketing department. The notes are part of a lawsuit filed by three employees who allege there was a toxic culture at the university.’s marketing team was covered in more than 200 sticky notes — each one featuring a crude or sexual phrase that staff there had allegedly said.The biggest share were attributed to the vice president of the department, Jordon Sharp — a member of the school’s executive cabinet who reports directly to the university’s president.“Oh my gosh. I just grabbed his little penis. That felt really unnatural,” read another with his name on the bottom.In a notable ruling, the judge presiding over the case ordered that what was written on each slip of paper should be unsealed and made publicly available — because, U.S. District Judge David Nuffer wrote, the public interest is “significant” given that the allegations concern a state-funded school. “To bury that information under seal is inconsistent with the public’s interest in transparent adjudication of the important rights protected by Title IX,” said Nuffer, referring to the Utah Tech had argued that most of the lawsuit should be under seal, calling it a “uniquely complex case” that might harm its reputation. The school’s attorneys had requested a restraining order to temporarily stop the employees from submitting any further court filings, which the judge denied. The case was filed by Becky Broadbent, then the university’s top attorney; Jared Rasband, its second-in-command attorney; and Hazel Sainsbury, Utah Tech’s Title IX coordinator, who is tasked with responding to complaints of sexual misconduct. Broadbent had been placed on leave from her position at the time the lawsuit was filed; Rasband and Sainsbury said they feared their own repercussions. Utah Tech employees Becky Broadbent, Jared Rasband and Hazel Sainsbury are pictured on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. The school argued that because Broadbent and Rasband are attorneys, they should have to abide by confidential attorney-client privilege; and Sainsbury, Utah Tech said, should also be held to strict confidentiality in her role over Title IX. But Nuffer said the three employees have a right to provide evidence that goes to the “substance of the issue.” That includes the Post-it note quotes, he said, which are “relevant” to their allegations of a toxic culture. The now-unsealed exhibit includes a photo of the metal cabinet covered in handwritten sticky notes, all of which were redacted to protect privacy. But a typed-out document detailing what each of the notes said is included.for an administrator who’d recently had surgery. Williams signed the gift as if it was from the three plaintiffs — which they say felt like retribution for their efforts to clean up the school and address harassment, including their removal of the Post-it display.displayed the sticky notes. The president, they say, didn’t seem to have an issue with the bawdy quote wall and didn’t understand why it was being investigated.acknowledges challenges over the past few years." That includes, it said, an “internal confidential Title IX investigation conducted four years ago related to a quote board, which included statements taken out of context.” It noted that the investigation didn’t result in findings of a violation. In an email included in court filings, Sainsbury explained to the school’s human resources director that there was little that she could do because no marketing employees “alleged harm” from the display. Utah Tech and the 21 defendants in the lawsuit have argued for immunity under state law, saying they cannot be held liable based on Utah’s wide protections for government actors.told The Tribune she first learned of the sticky notes in September 2021, when an employee at Utah Tech reported it to her office. She said she initially thought it was “too outrageous to be true.” It was her job to investigate. “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.”Sainsbury said she later learned the display was “known widely across campus” and had been up for about four years — including the cabinet with the notes being carefully moved from one office to another when the marketing team was assigned to a new space on campus.The document lists 227 notes total. Of those, 55 — roughly 25% — are attributed to Sharp. Sharp has been the vice president of marketing at Utah Tech for about six years and was in the department prior to that, too. His most recent salary, for 2024, was $205,658, Jordon Sharp, vice president of marketing at Utah Tech University, is seen in this picture from Wednesday, May 21, 2025.One says: “I loosened it and then it went in. .” Another reads, “You would have be so proud of me…. I wanted to smack your butt so bad.” There are notes talking about “whores,” one referencing herpes and many using vulgar language. One references a staff member by name, asking her: “Wanna get naked with me?”• “Do you have any friends that are minority or ethnic in nature? …Could you bring any of those?” • “How are the two most important women in my life both pregnant?!! The universe is not smiling on me.”Sainsbury said she believes the notes revealed “a deeply troubling aspect of the culture at Utah Tech University” that was normalized and accepted. “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,” she said. “The display sent a chilling message: that some people were above reproach and that speaking up could result in retaliation.”They took the notes down and documented them. In her email to the human resources director, she said she’d like HR to review the matter for any violations of university policy. It’s not clear if that happened. Broadbent said in a statement to The Tribune that she feels the administration at the school “treated it as if they were just a few verbal missteps instead of what they were: a museum of obscenities.”Utah Tech University calls for lawsuit against it to be dismissed, citing broad government immunity Utah Tech investigation ends with no ‘sustained findings’ against former president who left phallic giftUtah Tech University announces new president after 14-month vacancy‘Hustler’ to ‘entrepreneur’: What Utah women learn in prison business school
Utah Tech Lawsuit Phallic Gag Gift Utah Tech Utah Tech Post-Its Utah Tech Inappropriate Notes Utah Tech Marketing
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