Woman who accused former Michigan State football coach of sexual harassment files intent to sue him and the school
By Jeff Winter, CNN
(CNN) — A woman who accused Michigan State University’s then-head football coach Mel Tucker of sexual harassment intends to sue him, the school and others for tens of millions of dollars in damages, according to new legal filings.
Rape survivor and advocate Brenda Tracy is set to sue Tucker, MSU, its board of trustees and a dozen other unnamed people for $75 million over allegations that Tucker sexually harassed her, that the school failed to properly investigate her claims of Tucker’s misbehavior, and that “a yet-to-be identified MSU affiliated party” inappropriately leaked her identity to the news media, according to a notice of intent to sue filed in a Michigan court on Wednesday.
Karen Truszkowski, Tracy’s attorney, declined to comment when reached by CNN on Wednesday.
CNN has sought comment from Tucker’s attorney and MSU.
Tracy filed a complaint with MSU’s Title IX office in December 2022 alleging Tucker made sexual comments and masturbated during an April 2022 phone call with her, according to USA Today, which broke the story last September.
“The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it’s hard for me to even wrap my mind around it,” Tracy told USA Today at the time. “It’s like he sought me out just to betray me.”
In Wednesday’s filings, Tracy alleges that after making MSU aware of the phone call in late 2022, MSU investigated her claims and assured her of confidentiality. Tracy also claims that “a yet-to-be identified MSU affiliated party” leaked her name to the press, and as a result she and her family were threatened, and that “those threats are ongoing and continue to the present,” the court papers state.
MSU fired Tucker on September 27, weeks after USA Today reported he was under investigation.
“While I am saddened by Ms. Tracy’s disclosure of the sensitive nature of this call, let me be perfectly clear – it was an entirely mutual, private event between two adults living at opposite ends of the country,” Tucker said in a statement that CNN obtained on September 11.
Tracy intends to file two suits against Tucker, MSU and the other parties – one under her name for $50 million, and a second under her non-profit “Set The Expectation” for $25 million, according to the court papers. Those papers say she has the potential to sue on more than 20 different claims, including intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of duty of confidentiality.
Tracy started “Set The Expectation,” through which she speaks to athletes about sexual violence, according to her website. Tracy was raped in 1998 by four college football players, leading to her advocacy.
She served as an honorary captain for Michigan State’s spring football game in 2022, and the team posted a photo of Instagram of Tucker and Tracy together.
In his statement last September, Tucker said he helped bring Tracy to campus for a presentation in 2021 because she supported her sexual misconduct prevention mission. He said they developed a friendship that grew into an intimate relationship, which he said involved calls including the one in April 2022.
Tucker, a longtime coach in college and the NFL, became Michigan State’s head coach in 2020. In his second season, the team went 11-2 and he signed a 10-year, $95 million contract that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. The team went 5-7 in 2022, and Tucker coached only the first two games of 2023 before he was suspended and then fired amid the harassment allegations.
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