According to a lawsuit filed by former Stanford employee Sheryl Kanzaki, members of the Stanford football squad took recruits to a San Francisco strip club in 2003.

In the lawsuit, Kanzaki, a former accounting assistant with the athletic department, states that in May 2003, players submitted receipts for reimbursements which included alcohol purchases as well as expenditures at New Century Theater in San Francisco.

While the event was not an NCAA violation in 2003, it is now against NCAA rules and regulations prohibiting hosts to spend money provided by the athletic department on strip clubs, drugs or alcohol.

This was the first time the University knew of the incident, while minor infractions do occur from time to time, said Stanford counsel Patrick Dunkley.

When asked if such practices were common before 2003, Dunkley said “not as far as taking the recruits out.”

According to comments given to the San Jose Mercury news, Stanford reported the incident to the NCAA because of an accounting mistake. Because players had spent more than the allotted $30 for entertaining recruits, the minor violation was reported.

“The only thing that was an NCAA violation was a $30 limit that can be spent on recruitment and the University voluntarily reported that,”

In addition, the receipts were handwritten, and the accounting office’s associate athletic director Debra Gore-Mann and accounting manager Susana Ching are thought to have switched those receipts for a lost receipt form.

The actions were a violation of the department’s policy and Kanzaki believes the handwritten receipts were replaced by lost-receipt forms to cover up the visit to the strip club and the purchase of alcohol during a recruit visit.

Kanzaki has also singled out senior Gore-Mann for mistreatment in the lawsuit. The lawsuit states that in July 2001 “Gore-Mann began a pattern and practice of promulgating a culture of intolerance and retaliation” concerning employee leave. Gore Mann is also accused of creating positions for friends during a University-wide hiring freeze in 2003.

In the past two years, Stanford has not had any serious NCAA violations. The accusation threatens to mar Stanford’s reputation as an exemplary school for intercollegiate athletics, both on and off the field.

Dunkley said the University has taken all appropriate measures in response to the incident.

“One reason why it’s receiving attention now is because of the lawsuit by Ms. Kanzaki,” he said. “The University took action and designed it from happening again.”

See tomorrow’s Daily for more coverage.