Why Hasn’t Michigan Fired The Female Staffer Who Had An Affair With Former Head Coach Sherrone Moore?

Though the University of Michigan wasted no time separating themselves from former head coach Sherrone Moore, they have yet to fire the female staffer that Moore allegedly had his affair with.

Last week was a rough stretch for the Wolverines (to say the least). The college football world was shocked on Wednesday when the University of Michigan announced they were firing Moore with cause. It seemed somewhat out of the maize and blue, considering the head coach wasn’t on the hot seat… until the news broke that the firing was because of inappropriate conduct off the football field.

According to a statement from Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, Moore was fired for cause after allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer for the Wolverines football team:

“Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately. Following a university investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and UM maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

What makes matters worse? Moore has been married to his wife, Kelli, for a decade, and the couple have three children together. The affair has also reportedly gone on for a number of years.

Shortly after news of Moore’s firing broke, even more concerning headlines were made, as the former Michigan Wolverines head coach was detained by police in Saline, Michigan and turned over to the Pittsfield Township Police Department “for investigation into potential charges” of assault. Those charges ended up being as follows:

-Home invasion in the third degree, which is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Prosecutors revealed that Moore is accused of allegedly “unlawfully entering the victim’s residence to commit the crime of stalking, and committing that crime while in the residence.”

-Stalking, a misdemeanor charge, which was brought to Moore for “allegedly engaging in a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continued harassment of the victim.” That could result in up to a year in jail.

-Breaking and entering or entering without breaking, for “allegedly unlawfully entering the dwelling of a victim with whom Mr. Moore had a dating relationship.” That’s another misdemeanor charge that could add 90 days to a sentence.

Sherron Moore was actually arraigned last Friday, where he was formally charged as a prosecutor described what they alleged happened with the now-former coach and the Michigan staffer he had an affair with in the aftermath of his firing:

“At some point soon thereafter came to her apartment… barged his way into that apartment, immediately then proceeded to a kitchen drawer, grabbed several butter knives and a pair of kitchen scissors, and began to threaten his own life. ‘I’m going to kill myself, I’m going to make you watch, my blood is on your hands, you ruined my life,’ and a series of very, very threatening, intimidating, terrifying statements and behaviors.”

What a wild and sad situation.

Something else that has turned a lot of heads in the days after Moore’s firing, arrest and arraignment? His alleged mistress is still employed by the University of Michigan. The staffer that Moore had an affair with hasn’t been officially identified, though it’s largely believed to be his assistant, Paige Shiver.

Shortly after all of the crazy news began to break, Shiver deactivated her social media accounts, and online sleuths found that she had received a 55% raise in 2025. In addition, the 911 call that led to Moore being detained was made from an address linked to Shiver.

And according to USA Today, Michigan still has her on staff because of the school’s policy regarding supervisor-employee relationships.

School Policy

If you are to take a look at the University of Michigan’s Standard Practice Guide, Policy 201.97 covers “intimate relationships between supervisors and supervisees.” Obviously, Moore and his alleged mistress, Paige Shiver, would be considered to be a supervisor and supervisee:

“A Supervisor may not, implicitly or explicitly, initiate or attempt to initiate an Intimate Relationship with a Supervisee over whom they exercise supervisory authority as defined in Section III.A. of this Policy.”

The guide goes on to explain that, if there is a relationship between a supervisor and an employee, it must be reported immediately to a superior employee of the supervisor. That superior is described as a “Higher Level Administrative Authority,” which would likely be an executive director or a dean.

And it’s the supervisor’s responsibility to report the relationship, so the fault lies with Sherrone Moore. Michigan can’t fire his executive assistant if she reported the violation, assisted with the report, or helps with the investigation, according to the Standard Practice Guide:

“Retaliation against a person who reports a potential violation under this policy, assists someone with a report of a violation, or participates in any manner in an investigation or in the resolution of a report made under this policy is strictly prohibited. Retaliation includes, but is not limited to threats, intimidation, reprisals and/or adverse action related to an individual’s employment or education.”

Thus, if Michigan were to fire Moore’s executive assistant, that would be considered retaliation, which is not allowed. However, let’s be real here… if Shiver did participate in this affair for a long time, knowing that Moore was married, and that this was in violation of school policy, it doesn’t exactly sound like she’s some kind of whistleblower here, it sounds more like she’s someone who exercised bad judgment, bad morals, and only ratted him out when it became inconvenient. Not exactly an employee I’d want to have, but nevertheless, the school may have their hands tied.

Now, does that mean that the alleged mistress will stick around at the University of Michigan? Probably not. This is all reckless speculation, but most people involved in something like that – a story that’s made national headlines – would want a fresh start in a new place.

That being said, it seems like it’ll be up to her to leave, since she’s being protected by the University of Michigan’s SPG.The post Why Hasn’t Michigan Fired The Female Staffer Who Had An Affair With Former Head Coach Sherrone Moore? first appeared on Whiskey Riff.