Mel Tucker to miss MSU Title IX hearing due to 'medical condition'; lawyers send key texts
Former Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker will not be attending the university’s Title IX hearing scheduled to start on Thursday.
According to Tucker’s attorney Jennifer Belveal, the former coach will not be able to attend because of a “serious medical condition.”
“We are prohibited from participating in the hearing scheduled for October 5 and 6, 2023, because Mr. Tucker is not available due to a serious medical condition,” Belveal wrote.
Tucker was first suspended on Sept. 10 after a USA Today report alleged he sexually harassed Brenda Tracy, a prominent sexual assault survivor and national advocate who provided training to MSU football, when he masturbated on a phone call in April 2022. Tucker said it was consensual phone sex, while Tracy said it was an unwanted advance.
MORE ON THE HEARING: Assistants' testimony could play key role in Michigan State sexual harassment case against Mel Tucker
A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for months to occur on Thursday and Friday, during MSU's bye week, but now Tucker is claiming he can't attend due to a medical condition he first reported the day after the university announced they intend to fire him before the hearing.
MSU decided to fire Tucker prior to the hearing because the school said there was enough public evidence to conclude Tucker violated the morality and integrity clauses of his contract by having a relationship with a school vendor, consensual or not.
In addition to announcing that he would not be attending the hearing due to his medical condition, Tucker's lawyer released over 100 pages of evidence in a letter to the public regarding the case with Tracy and said MSU did not do “its due diligence” in regards to the investigation.
The main evidence was Tracy’s text messages with an associate, Ahlan Alvarado, a key witness in this matter who tragically died in a car accident in June.
Tucker's legal team breaks the letter down into four subheads making separate claims:
Ms. Tracy’s Own Statements Confirm that She Had (Simultaneous) Consensual Personal Relationships with Mr. Tucker and at Least One Other Married Coach, Contrary to What She Told the Investigator.
A New Witness – the Only Witness Under Oath – Has Said That Ms. Tracy and Mr.Tucker’s Phone Sex Call Was Consensual.
Ms. Tracy Manipulated MSU For Her Own Financial Gain
OIE’s Investigation Failed
The first claim details text messages regarding an allegedly similar relationship Tracy had with basketball coach Damon Stoudamire, who was an assistant with the Boston Celtics before taking the head coach job at Georgia Tech.
"To be sure, Ms. Tracy had previously worked with Mr. Stoudamire — and even remarked to Ms. Alvarado that “Damon had 2 reasons for bringing me to speak to his college team,” Tucker's legal team claims.
In one of the text exchanges included in the new release, Tracy allegedly said "Damon is so cute in his tight shirt and pants lol. I like seeing him on tv," while also saying separately "Coach Tucker told me he loved me last night. It wasn’t weird tho. He made sure I knew it was about being a friend."
"Ms. Tracy told the investigator that she told Mr. Tucker she was “single on purpose” and that she does “not date people in [her] field.” Even one of Ms. Tracy’s lawyers (Ms. Swanson) vouched for her on the record, claiming that “in all her years of knowing [Ms. Tracy], she had never known [her] to date or otherwise become romantically involved with anyone with whom[she] had a professional relationship.” Ms. Tracy repeatedly made these bold claims to falsely suggest that her relationship with Tucker was necessarily one-sided," Beveal wrote.
In the second claim, Tucker’s lawyer says a witness familiar with Tracy has said under oath Tucker and Tracy were in “some sort” of a relationship and the phone call where the alleged harassment took place was consensual, but did not share how this person would have known this information.
“Instead, a new witness familiar with Ms. Tracy’s representations regarding their relationship has come forward under oath in a sworn affidavit and flat out said that Ms. Tracy and Mr. Tucker ‘were in some sort of relationship when the conversation took place . . . the phone sex was consensual,’” Belveal said. “No other witness, including Ms. Tracy herself, has made any statement under oath.”
The lawyer also released texts from Tracy to Alvarado about Tucker’s contract, claiming Tracy was manipulating the university for financial gain. However, the text messages included only make reference to Tucker's $95 million contract. Tucker's lawyer says this evidence, combined with the fact Alvarado cannot testify because she is dead, was grounds for dismissal and claimed the investigation as “incomplete and biased”.
“We are now faced with the uncomfortable reality that had the investigation been thorough, the information contained herein, and much more, would have resulted in the dismissal of this case,” Belveal said.
You can read the entire 106-page letter by clicking this link here.
Other notes
Tracy has claimed that her name was leaked from someone inside the university before the hearing on the matter, prompting an investigation from the school to find out how her name became public. Tracy says she began hearing that her name was out there and that is why she went public with her story with USA Today.
“I am disturbed and outraged by recent reports indicating the name of a claimant in a sexual harassment investigation was intentionally released in an apparent effort to retaliate against her. We should unequivocally condemn attempts to silence or retaliate against victims," Michigan State University Trustee Dianne Byrum said in September.
Text messages shared by Tucker's team show Tracy began talking with an ESPN reporter about her story back on May 16, 2023.
Tracy: "I just talked to my new ESPN reporter"
Alvarado: "How did it go?"
Tracy: "Good. I like him. He said they aren’t going to do anything yet. But obviously if they get tipped off about other outlets or if MT does something they would need to cover it"
Alvardo: "That makes sense"
On May 19, 2023, Tracy added "Dan said ESPN is starting to send out FOIAs. General stuff so he doesn’t think they will know"
"But who knows"
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mel Tucker to miss MSU Title IX hearing due to 'medical condition'
