EAST LANSING, MI — MSU head football coach Mel Tucker’s attorneys are responding to Michigan State University’s plans to fire him. In a 25-page letter sent Monday afternoon, Jennifer Z. Belveal and John F. Birmingham Jr. argue the actions of their client with university contractor, rape survivor and anti-sexual harassment educator Brenda Tracy, have been improperly investigated and handled by the university.
Tucker says his actions with Tracy did not rise to the level of a termination ‘for cause,” let alone ‘moral turpitude,” as asserted by the school in a letter Alan Haller sent to Tucker last week outlining the reasons for his pending termination.
A story in the Sept. 10 by USA Today outlined Tracy’s claims of sexual misconduct by Tucker. Later that day, Tucker was suspended without pay. University officials said they did not have access to details of the allegations until they were published by USA Today.
However, Tucker’s representatives argue the university had been aware of the allegations for months and ought to have moved sooner if it believed it was such a big issue.
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