The has wrapped up its investigation into sexual harassment allegations against water polo coach and has removed him from coaching the girls team.
It is unclear what McMunn's role will be with the boys team. The district hired earlier this month.
MVHS Principal Ray Gatfield wrote the report. In it he concluded that McMunn did not but does need to be counseled against touching employees and talking about personal subjects.
"The evidence does indicate that Coach McMunn has used overly personal conversations … and has occasionally been aggressive when demonstrating techniques with (the assistant coach and students)," states the eight-page report. "The District has determined that Coach McMunn will no longer be associated with the Girls' Water Polo program at Mission Viejo High School."
Asked whether McMunn will return to coaching the boys team, Tammy Blakely, assistant to the superintendent and director of pupil services, said, "Mr. Tim Renden is coaching MVHS boys water polo, which will continue through the season." She would not elaborate.
McMunn called Patch on Friday night to report that he had been "exonerated from all charges of sexual harassment and the district concluded that there’s no just findings to any of these allegations."
His comments were left via voice mail. Since then, he has been unreachable for comment despite attempts by phone and e-mail.
McMunn was while the district conducted its investigation.
Although the report says McMunn’s actions stopped short of sexual harassment or misconduct, it says his behavior does need to change.
"Hugging and kissing a fellow worker is inappropriate," the report says. Connected with the same action, "Coach McMunn should not be touching another colleague’s hair. I have directed Coach McMunn to stop such behavior as described above due to the overly personal nature of such gestures."
In many of the instances, McMunn did not deny the allegations to district employees but put them in a different context. For example, McMunn said the aforementioned embrace was meant to comfort his assistant coach after learning that she had recently broken up with her fiancé. In another instance, he acknowledged having told his assistant coach that he had a dream about her but denied adding that it wasn’t a "wet dream."
One of the more serious allegations was that McMunn touched the breasts of female student players and a female assistant coach while demonstrating "open hand checks," an illegal move in a game.
"McMunn admitted to demonstrating the drill very high on the girls," Gatfield wrote. "He also indicated that water polo can sometimes be a rough sport and that coaches as well as athletes can get bruised."
The report states that "most witnesses" said that McMunn did not touch the females inappropriately. There was a student who said he did, according to the report, but she could not be sure if he did so intentionally.
"Based on many witnesses’ accounts, Coach McMunn has displayed a tendency to be rough with the female water polo players," the report states. "Even though water polo is a contact sport, I have directed Coach McMunn to be more aware of the intensity of his physical interactions when coaching and demonstrating plays in the water with athletes."
The assistant coach who filed a complaint with McMunn has contacted an attorney because she said she fears she may not have a job in the aftermath of the report. Another assistant coach, Matt Tipton, said the district fired him after he warned officials that female players were discussing McMunn’s interaction with them.
