Press Release: 5/1/2025

Medfield High School Counselor and Football Coach Erik Ormberg pays $16,000 Civil Penalty for Violating Conflict of Interest Law

 

Ormberg used public position and resources to promote and encourage students to attend his private football and conditioning camps

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

4/30/2025

MEDIA CONTACT

Gerry Tuoti, Public Information Officer

 Phone

Call Gerry Tuoti, Public Information Officer at (617) 371-9533

 Online

Email Gerry Tuoti, Public Information Officer at Gerry.Tuoti@mass.gov

BOSTON, MA — Medfield High School Counselor and Head Football Coach Erik Ormberg has paid a $16,000 civil penalty for violating the conflict of interest law by using his public position and public resources to promote and encourage students to attend his private, for-profit football and athletic conditioning camps. The State Ethics Commission has approved a Disposition Agreement in which Ormberg admitted the violations, agreed to cease and desist from all such conduct in violation of the conflict of interest law, and waived his right to a public hearing.

Ormberg has served as Medfield High School’s Head Varsity Football coach for over 14 years. Since 2018, Ormberg has operated a private for-profit business, Warrior Industries LLC, which offers summer fitness and football camps to students from Medfield and surrounding towns. Ormberg contracted with the School District to operate Warrior Industries camps using the high school’s athletic field, weight room, and equipment and hired the school’s assistant coaches to help run the program. During 2018-2024, Ormberg received a total of $70,000 in payments from Warrior Industries.

As Head Football Coach, Ormberg regularly recommended that Medfield student-athletes attend his private camps. During his presentations as Head Coach at Medfield High School’s annual Fall Sports Information Night, Ormberg promoted his private Warrior Industries camps and emphasized that attending the camps was “strongly recommended” for student-athletes. Ormberg also promoted Warrior Industries camps on the Medfield Football Twitter account he managed as Head Coach and used Medfield High School imagery to promote the camps on his private website. In 2022 and 2023, Ormberg used his Medfield High School email account and a school listserv to send information promoting his Warrior Industries camps to students and parents, including all students on the Medfield High School football team. He also encouraged his Medfield High School assistant football coaches to work for Warrior Industries, ultimately hiring five of them over the years.

By using his position as Head Coach and other Medfield High School resources to promote his private camps to Medfield students, and by recruiting his high school assistant coaches to staff those camps, Ormberg violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against public employees using their official positions or other public resources to obtain substantially valuable unwarranted privileges for themselves or others. Also, by as Head Coach including in the high school’s annual Fall Sports Information Night presentations references to his private camps and recommendations that students attend them, Ormberg violated the law’s prohibition against municipal employees participating officially in matters in which they know they or their private business organizations have a financial interest.

In addition, Ormberg violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against a municipal employee representing or acting as agent for anyone other than the municipality in any matter in which the municipality is a party or has a direct and substantial interest by communicating with Medfield High School staff on behalf of Warrior Industries regarding the use of school facilities.

Finally, Ormberg’s actions in entering into private business relationships through Warrior Industries with students and assistant coaches under his official responsibility as School Counselor and/or Head Football Coach violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against a public employee acting in a way that would cause a reasonable person to think the employee would act with bias or favoritism towards anyone in the performance of their official duties, as a reasonable person would conclude that the students who attended, and the assistant coaches who worked at, the Warrior Industries camps could unduly enjoy Ormberg’s favor in the performance of his official duties as Head Football Coach.

“When public employees’ public jobs and private business activities are closely related, they must be careful to maintain a clear separation between them,” said State Ethics Commission Executive Director David A. Wilson. “The conflict of interest law is clear that public employees may not use their public positions to drum up business for private companies they own or are connected with.”

The Commission encourages public employees to contact the Commission’s Legal Division at 617-371-9500 for free advice if they have any questions regarding how the conflict of interest law may apply to them.