A Former Men’s Rowing Head Coach is suing Oregon State University and the Athletic Director for allegedly wrongfully terminating his contract.
Gabriel Winkler, who had coached the Men’s Rowing team for 11 years, is seeking over $4.5 million dollars in damages. He submitted the civil lawsuit to Benton County Courthouse on Oct. 20. Winkler had previously been the assistant coach, totaling his years at OSU to 16.
“Oregon State University is aware of the lawsuit initiated by the former men’s head rowing coach,” Rob Odom, vice president of University Relations and Marketing, said in an email. “While the university will not comment further on this pending litigation, OSU rigorously adheres to all federal and state laws while valuing and respecting all employees.”
The incident revolving around Winkler’s dismissal allegedly started back on Jan. 14 at a rowing practice. The reports were that a male athlete who was not named, was pressuring girls and/or non-binary athletes who were on the Men’s Rowing team to sexual relations.
The rowing team, while classified as a men’s team, is the only sanctioned sports team at OSU that includes male, female, and non-binary students on the roster.
Multiple meetings were held between the Equal Opportunity Access office, Winkler and his assistant coaches, as well as the team and the EOA. These conversations lasted until the end of March, with some of the female athletes directly reaching out to the EOA after they hadn’t heard anything from them, along with no update being provided to Winkler.
It wasn’t until late-April to mid-May that Winkler was told that the EOA had closed its investigation into the subject. Following this decision, Winkler informed Barnes that he would be taking the matter into his own hands, and removed the player from the team on June 4.
Winkler had his annual evaluation on June 23, and per the civil lawsuit, “Defendant Barnes and Jeff Macy, Plaintiffs supervisor, met with Plaintiff and told him that he was going to be terminated for cause. The cause identified by Defendant Barnes at the June 23, 2025, meeting was ‘too much noise around the men’s rowing program tied to the EOA complaints’ and a ‘bro culture’ on the men’s rowing team that ‘created too many EOA complaints’. Prior to these comments being made to Plaintiff, he had never been disciplined, counseled or investigated…”
Some key notes to take away from the 44-page lawsuit that was filed were details within Winkler’s contract. Multiple incentives were listed, one revolving around a top three finish in the Pac-12 Conference. While the Pac-12 isn’t currently active with all the teams that it was when the contract was signed, the team finished in the top three every year Winkler led the team.
The amount was one half of one month’s base salary for a top three finish. Along with this, he would receive a $3,000 incentive bonus if the team had a 3.1 Grade Point Average or higher. The last term Winkler coached, the team had achieved a 3.5 average, with nine of his athletes having a perfect 4.0.
With this, this was also the highest GPA of any men’s team in the OSU athletic department.
On this note, it can be assumed that the firing was not related to performance, or lack thereof, which was later acknowledged in the civil lawsuit.
“As Plaintiff’s supervisor, Jeff Macy, explained to Plaintiff’s coaching team, Defendant Barnes’ choice to terminate for cause was not about Plaintiff’s performance,” the civil lawsuit read. “Rather, he confirmed, it was ‘all about money.’”
Winkler has demanded a trial by jury, which a date has not been released to the public, or chosen.
