Mel Tucker, the dismissed football coach of the Spartans, alerted Michigan State University on Thursday that he was getting ready to submit a possible wrongful termination complaint against the university.
In a letter to Michigan State’s general counsel, Tucker’s attorney demanded that the institution save electronic and paper records for all athletes and for a number of other university staff members “in anticipation of litigation.”
On Wednesday, Michigan State fired Tucker without explanation, about a month after sexual abuse preventionist Brenda Tracy accused the coach of pressuring her sexually after she signed a contract to work with the football team.
Tucker was let go for reason, according to athletic director Alan Haller, because of his “admitted and undisputed behaviors… that brought public disrespect, contempt, and ridicule upon the university; and constitute a material breach of his agreement, and moral turpitude.”
In her letter, Jennifer Belveal, Tucker’s attorney, referred to Michigan State’s conduct as a “illegal termination”. Tucker’s longstanding contract with the football team was terminated for cause, thus Michigan State is no longer obligated to pay him any of the roughly $79 million that was left on it.
How Mel Tucker has disputed the allegations explained
In numerous public declarations and a letter delivered to Haller last week, Tucker disputed the termination.
One day after specifics regarding his alleged sexual harassment of Tracy were made public in an article published by USA Today, Michigan State suspended Tucker without pay on September 10. In December 2022, Tracy complained to the university about Tucker, alleging that he had made inappropriate sexual remarks to her and had engaged in phone masturbation without her permission.
In order to ascertain if Tucker had broken the university’s sexual misconduct policy, the administration recruited an outside investigator. Next week there will be a hearing to determine whether there were any infractions.
Tucker, who claims to be estranged from his wife, claimed to have an intimate relationship with Tracy and that his actions during the phone call were consensual. Tucker also claimed to be split from his wife.
The encounters he had with Tracy, he claimed, were personal and unrelated to his work at Michigan State. In his post-suspension remarks, Tucker decried the inquiry as a “sham.” He claimed that his termination lacked due process.
Regardless of the outcome of his upcoming sexual harassment case, Haller informed Tucker in a letter last week that he had broken the terms of his contract because, among other things, he had acknowledged having a sexual contact with a woman who had been employed by the university as a vendor.
Tucker requested that the university keep all phone and computer records as well as physical files created by staff members of the athletic department, the general counsel’s office, the university, and all members of Michigan State’s board of trustees, among others, in a letter he sent to the general counsel on Thursday.
