Mel Tucker's last winter as Michigan State's head football coach was a busy one.
Documents show he flew around the country at least 17 times on a private jet en route to inking one of the team's best recruiting classes in a decade.
He has attended at least four Spartans men's basketball games, including one at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where he wore a large Spartan Dawgs for Life medallion courtside. A Twitter user snapped a photo of him filling a clear plastic cup with a drink.
He also gave multiple on-camera interviews with media companies.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Tucker maintained that he was in such extreme emotional distress that he was unable to speak to outside attorneys investigating the sexual harassment charges, according to emails obtained by USA TODAY.
Tucker was unable to participate throughout the campus lawsuit filed by rape survivor and anti-sexual violence activist Brenda Tracy, the company hired to talk to players about sexual violence prevention, due to a serious medical condition. He repeatedly insisted. He had to postpone her case for several weeks due to her health problems, while she continued to receive her $750,000 monthly salary, she claimed.
But Tucker's actions before and after these emails, which are part of a more than 1,000-page docket that MSU has hidden from public view, cast doubt on the validity of those claims.
Under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act, the files will be made available to the public after the case is closed. But in response to a Jan. 16 records request from USA TODAY, MSU announced this week that it would charge news organizations at least $5,400 for the approximately 160 hours it took to verify and redact personal information from records. did. The school says the process will take 51 weeks.
USA TODAY obtained the file directly from Tracy. It illuminates many important aspects of the case that led to Mr. Tucker's dismissal through lengthy written reports by investigators, hearing officers, and appellate officers, interview summaries, and details contained in hundreds of pages of exhibits. I guessed. These include correspondence and documentary evidence between Mr. Tucker's lawyers and university officials.
This record will also be of great help in solving some remaining mysteries.
These provide insight into MSU's response to Tucker's various health claims and help explain why the lawsuit dragged on so long. MSU's sexual harassment policy typically requires him to complete his case within six months after a formal complaint is filed, but the case against Tucker lasted for more than a year.
David Ring, a Los Angeles-based attorney who represents sexual abuse victims, said MSU is in a difficult situation because of Tucker's alleged health problems. Even if she believed the investigator was fabricating a medical condition to thwart the investigation, if she had pushed ahead without questioning her, it could have created a perception that it was unfair treatment. There was a possibility that Tucker would later use it against the school.
Either way, Mr. Tucker's dubious claims about his health further damage his credibility in the court of public opinion, Mr. Ring told USA TODAY.
“It's kind of amazing that people can say, “I'm in such a difficult situation that there's no way I can do interviews,'' and yet at the same time be out in public, traveling, and giving interviews. ''' Ring said.
Michigan State University declined to comment for this story. Mr. Tucker and his attorney, Jennifer Verveer, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
According to the email, Tucker first filed the mental health complaint in January 2023, three weeks after Tracy filed her complaint with the MSU Title IX Office. Tracy's complaint alleges that Tucker masturbated and made sexual comments to her during an April 2022 phone call without her consent.
The university's external investigator, Rebecca Reitman Weidlinger, interviewed Tracy and all six witnesses in the case by the end of January 2023, but not Tucker. Mr. Verveer told Mr. Weidlinger that Mr. Tucker was in extreme emotional distress and would have to postpone the interview indefinitely.
According to the email, Weidlinger responded that Tucker could seek accommodations through the Michigan Office for Persons with Disabilities. But Mr. Tucker appears not to have done so. On February 3, Mr. Verveer wrote that Mr. Tucker's next available day to work would be the end of March, almost two months later. He was finally scheduled for an interview on March 22, 2023.
After Tracy went public with the allegations in a USA TODAY investigation, Tucker complained of his health again the following September. MSU suspended Tucker without pay after the news broke and fired him for cause a week later.
In a Sept. 25 letter to athletic director Alan Haller, Tucker said he was terminated under the Family and Medical Leave Act due to a “serious health condition” days before MSU notified him of its intent to terminate him. MSU argued that it could not fire him because he had applied for medical leave. Fire him. It is unclear whether the condition is the mental distress he cited in January.
MSU fired Tucker anyway on Sept. 26, canceling the roughly $80 million left on his record contract.
Additionally, Ms. Belleville wrote to the school's Title IX office on September 20, asking for further postponement, stating that Ms. Tucker was unable to attend the Oct. 5 hearing in her sexual harassment lawsuit due to her health condition.
Katie Birenga, the university's hearing administrator, responded that Tucker would need to provide documentation of the condition to justify the delay. Bellevere did not do so, and Tucker did not appear at the hearing, records show.
Bellevere ultimately submitted a doctor's note on Tucker's behalf, dated Oct. 27, three weeks after the hearing. By then, the university's hearing officer had already made her decision, concluding that Mr. Tucker sexually harassed and exploited Mr. Tracy multiple times throughout his year-long business relationship.
Tucker's November appeal of the findings included a doctor's note addressed to Bellevere. According to the newspaper, Mr. Tucker was admitted to the hospital for treatment on September 15th and is expected to be discharged on October 29th.The doctor's last name “Dr. James” is covered in a black box [REDACTED]MD” – title and name of treatment center.
“During this time, Mr. Tucker was unable to participate in any legal or administrative matters due to his chronic illness and required medical treatment,” the memo said. “Furthermore, the stress and psychological and emotional effects of participating in these matters may worsen his illness.”
The case officially ended on January 11, when the school's external examiner rejected Mr. Tucker's appeal and concluded that the findings were reasonable based on the facts. The 24-page decision does not mention any medical conditions.
Kenny Jacoby is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY, covering sexual misconduct and Title IX. Email kjacoby@usatoday.com. Or follow him on X @kennyjacoby.
