Blackwell Case Could Be Dropped Against MSU

DETROIT (AP) — A federal judge has recommended that a former Michigan State football staff member's claims against former Spartans football coach Mark Dantonio, former athletic director Mark Hollis and former school President Lou Anna Simon should be dismissed.
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 04: Head coach Mark Dantonio of the Michigan State Spartans addresses the media after announcing his retirement before the game between the Michigan State Spartans and Penn State Nittany Lions at the Breslin Center on February 4, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

 

Curtis Blackwell filed a lawsuit in November 2018 claiming his employment agreement was violated when he was disciplined while the school addressed sexual assault allegations against three players in 2017. Dantonio, Hollis and Simon were named as defendants in the suit. Two MSU police detectives were also named as defendants.
In a filing Friday, Magistrate Judge Sally J. Berens said the case against Dantonio, Hollis and Simon "appears to have been prosecuted for an improper purpose and should be dismissed." Berens did not recommend dismissing the claims against the detectives.
The recommendation goes to Janet T. Neff, the federal judge overseeing the case.
"Plaintiff Blackwell's attorneys have repeatedly misused court process to elicit information unrelated to his case and then have publicly filed that information, at least once in violation of a court order," Berens said in her recommendation.
She added that it appears Blackwell's lawyers "have used discovery, not to adduce support for the narrow claim Plaintiff alleges against the MSU Defendants in this case, but to harass the defendants and to build a case they have now filed in state court."
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 8: Led by committee chairman Mark Hollis, the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee meets on Wednesday afternoon, March 8, 2017 in New York City. The committee is gathered in New York to begin the five-day process of selecting and seeding the field of 68 teams for the NCAA MenÕs Basketball Tournament. The final bracket will be released on Sunday evening following the completion of conference tournaments. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

 

Blackwell recently filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court, naming Dantonio, Hollis, Simon and current Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman as defendants. That suit alleges breach of contract, violation of Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act for race discrimination and wrongful termination, wrongful termination against public policy, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Filings in both cases have included references to possible NCAA violations, and Berens felt that in the federal case, Blackwell's lawyers have abused the discovery process.
"Plaintiff's attorneys have engaged in a pattern of seeking discovery on issues unrelated to the claim against the MSU Defendants but that might be relevant to a different claim and that certainly appear to be of interest to the press and public," Berens wrote.

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