Sexual assault survivor advocate Brenda Tracy filed a federal lawsuit against Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees and two individual board members on June 3, alleging they harmed her and her livelihood by mishandling her sexual harassment complaint against former head football coach Mel Tucker.
Her 51-page lawsuit accuses the officials of violating their legal and ethical duties to keep Tracy’s identity confidential throughout the university’s investigation of her December 2022 sexual harassment complaint. It alleges that Trustees Rema Vassar and Dennis Denno likely caused her name to be leaked to news outlets and others during the investigation. Michigan State officials, Vassar and Denno did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit also says that university officials breached their duty of care by failing to address the onslaught of threats and harassment Tracy suffered after she ultimately went public with her story. In addition, the lawsuit says that board members knew or should have known that Tucker had behaved inappropriately with other women and presented a threat to Tracy and the campus community.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for seven counts, including breach of contract, misconduct in office, gross negligence and violating Tracy’s due process rights. She says she suffered psychological and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, lost earnings and incurred additional expenses for medical and therapy treatments as a result.
