Lane Kiffin lawsuit: DeSanto Rollins rebuts Ole Miss and football coach's motion to dismiss
OXFORD — After Ole Miss and football coach Lane Kiffin filed a motion on Nov. 9 to dismiss DeSanto Rollins' lawsuit against them, the player's representation filed an opposing memorandum on Tuesday.
Rollins is a defensive lineman who Ole Miss says remains part of its program but has not appeared in a game this season. His memorandum alleges that he has not been invited to partake in team activities since a March 21 meeting with Kiffin.
In a complaint filed in September, Rollins alleged that Kiffin kicked him off the team in March while berating him over his mental health issues. He is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages from Kiffin and Ole Miss, and $30 million in punitive damages from Kiffin. He is also seeking a temporary restraining order, as well as an injunction reinstating him, based on the following allegations:
Racial discrimination on the part of Kiffin and Ole Miss
Discrimination on the basis of disability – or perceived disability – on the part of Kiffin and Ole Miss
Sexual discrimination on the part of Ole Miss
Intentional affliction of emotional distress on the part of Kiffin
Negligence and gross negligence on the part of Kiffin and Ole Miss
Kiffin's attorneys built his defense to the racial discrimination aspect of Rollins' suit around qualified immunity, which often protects state and local officials from individual liability when they act in their professional capacity.
The response filed Tuesday looked to counter Kiffin's qualified immunity defense.
"Kiffin is not entitled to qualified immunity, in his individual capacity, on Rollins’ equal protection claim because (1) his treatment of Rollins, a black male athlete who requested a mental health break, was different from his treatment of a white male athlete who requested a break and female athletes who requested mental health breaks and (2) Rollins’ right to be treated equally was clearly established at the time of Kiffin’s conduct," Rollins' attorney, Carroll Rhodes, wrote.
Rollins cited recent alleged examples in football and other sports where white athletes broke rules or asked for time away to deal with mental health issues and were not kicked off their respective teams.
Rollins' representation used the memorandum to refute legal arguments made by Kiffin's attorneys to discredit discrimination and negligence claims. Additionally, the document looked to rebut the claim by Kiffin's representation that the US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi − where the filings have taken place − should not exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Rollins' claims that are based on Mississippi state law.
FULL RUNDOWN OF ALLEGATIONS: Ole Miss player files lawsuit vs Lane Kiffin, accuses coach of berating him amid mental health issues
The memorandum also argued that Kiffin is liable for the intentional infliction of emotional distress on Rollins, describing the coach's actions as "malicious."
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: DeSanto Rollins responds in Lane Kiffin lawsuit after motion to dismiss
