Suspended Tuesday, one day after Michigan State began the process to terminate the football coach’s employment for reason due to claims of sexual misconduct, Mel Tucker retaliated against the school.
Tucker, who is accused of harassing activist and rape survivor Brenda Tracy over a phone call last year, claims “bias” and “other motives are at play” in Michigan State’s decision to remove him in a statement issued by lawyer Neil Cornrich. According to ESPN, Mel Tucker said
“Ms. Tracy manufactured false allegations against me. MSU ignored its own policies in pursuing a biased investigation into them,”
“I look forward to one day obtaining discovery against MSU, including the Trustees and the Athletic Department.”
Tucker will soon be let go by Michigan State due to what Alan Haller, the school’s athletic director, called “a body of undisputed evidence of misconduct that warrants termination for cause.”
Earlier this month, USA Today published a report claiming that Tucker, 51, masturbated on the phone with Tracy in April 2022. He has insisted that the interaction was consensual.
According to ESPN, Tucker had seven days under his contract to reply to the school’s notification.
In another part of the press release, Tucker claimed he was “disappointed — but not surprised” by Michigan State’s conclusion over what he called a “baseless complaint against me” in the 1,200-page inquiry file.
He asserts that Michigan State has been aware of the facts it will use to void his contract, which still has more than seven years left on it, since March. Tucker further added
“MSU is punishing me for Ms. Tracy’s leak, which violated MSU’s rules regarding confidentiality of the investigation,”
“MSU ignored my concerns about leaks relating to the confidential investigations,” Tucker said. “On August 25, well before Ms. Tracy went public with the full file, I demanded an investigation into leaks. MSU never acknowledged my request, let alone responded.”
According to Tucker, Haller told him that the institution intended to sever his employment relationship after he filed a leave of absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act “for a serious health condition.”
The coach added: “A cursory reading of the facts and timeline should cause any fair-minded person to conclude that other motives are at play.” The coach called the situation “a miscarriage of justice” that has “devastated” his family.