Petrino’s mistress resigns from Arkansas athletic department

By Zach Turner

Petrino’s mistress resigns from Arkansas athletic department

Bobby Petrino’s mistress is no longer employed by Arkansas.

Jessica Dorrell, the 25-year old whose affair with Petrino led to his April 10 firing, has resigned from her position as football student-athlete development coordinator, the UA announced Tuesday night.

Dorrell will be paid approximately $14,000 by the university in a settlement and agreed “not attempt to sell or profit from her affiliation with Razorback athletics,” according to the UA.

“While Ms. Dorrell had a legitimate right to apply for and accept a position within the football program, the circumstances surrounding the former coach’s decision to hire her compromised her ability to be effective in such a position,” athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement. “She and I believe she should have the opportunity to move on.”

In the 14-page document signed by Dorrell, she agreed not to sue the university or anyone affiliated, including Long and Petrino.

The settlement agreement doesn’t ban Dorrell from doing interviews, but she agreed “not to engage in any commercial, media or publishing services, regardless of the medium, that adversely affect the reputation of the University of Arkansas or that portrays Ms. Dorrell’s employment at the University of Arkansas in a negative manner.”

Petrino’s extramarital affair with Dorrell began while she worked for the Razorback Foundation and was revealed when an April 5 police report listed her as Petrino’s passenger in his April 1 motorcycle accident, a wreck he said he was alone in.

Both parties admitted Petrino gave Dorrell a gift of $20,000, which she used to buy a black Acura the first week she began work in the football department, a hiring announced March 28 and a job Petrino helped her get over 158 other applicants. From Sept. 12 to April 5, the two exchanged 288 phone calls and 4,388 text messages.

The UA will not attempt to fill Dorrell’s position, though her duties will be reassigned to other staff members, according to the release.

Read more here: http://www.uatrav.com/2012/dorrell-resigns/
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