Cleared Minn. college coach fights suspension

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minnesota college football coach who was cleared of child porn charges is fighting his suspension.

Connie Howard, general counsel for the Inter Faculty Organization, says Todd Hoffner received written notice from Minnesota State University, Mankato, late Tuesday afternoon. She says in an email to The Associated Press that the notice calls for a 20-day unpaid suspension starting Jan. 7.

The Inter Faculty Organization is a union representing faculty in Minnesota’s state universities.

Howard says they’ve filed a grievance challenging Hoffner’s suspension. She says the university failed to follow progressive discipline and did not have just cause to suspend him.

Hoffner has been on leave since videos of his naked children were found on his university-issued phone in August. A judge ruled they were not pornographic.

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