photo by Ray Tharaldson WRLTHD News
BELLEFONTE,
Pa. - The NCAA is facing another attack in court after several former
Penn State players joined the family of the late coach Joe Paterno in a
lawsuit seeking to overturn the landmark sanctions against the school
for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Centre County sought to show that the NCAA and its top leadership overstepped the organization's own rules in levying the four-year bowl ban, steep scholarship cuts and other penalties against the football program.
Paterno family representatives also hope the case will raise new questions about the university's internal investigation led by former FBI director Louis Freeh, along with how and why the NCAA used Freeh's report as a basis for its sanctions in July.
Several trustees and faculty members also are part of the suit.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Centre County sought to show that the NCAA and its top leadership overstepped the organization's own rules in levying the four-year bowl ban, steep scholarship cuts and other penalties against the football program.
Paterno family representatives also hope the case will raise new questions about the university's internal investigation led by former FBI director Louis Freeh, along with how and why the NCAA used Freeh's report as a basis for its sanctions in July.
Several trustees and faculty members also are part of the suit.
Here are some highlights from the introduction, which states in general why the suit has been filed. You can read the full filing by clicking the link below.
In particular, this lawsuit seeks to
remedy the harms caused by their unprecedented imposition of sanctions
on Pennsylvania State University (“Penn State”) for conduct that did not
violate the NCAA’s rules and was unrelated to any athletics issue the
NCAA could permissibly regulate. As part of their unlawful conduct, and
as alleged in more detail below, Defendants breached their contractual
obligations and violated their duties of good faith and fair dealing,
intentionally and tortiously interfered with Plaintiffs’ contractual
relations, and defamed and commercially disparaged Plaintiffs.
And...
Among other things, Defendants
circumvented the procedures required by the NCAA’s rules and violated
and conspired with others to violate Plaintiffs’ rights, causing
Plaintiffs significant harm. Defendants took these actions based on
conclusions reached in a flawed, unsubstantiated, and controversial
report that Defendants knew or should have known was not the result of a
thorough, reliable investigation; had been prepared without complying
with the NCAA’s investigative rules and procedures; reached conclusions
that were false, misleading, or otherwise unworthy of credence; and
reflected an improper “rush to judgment” based on unsound speculation
and innuendo. Defendants also knew or should have known that by
embracing the flawed report, they would effectively terminate the search
for truth and cause Plaintiffs grave harm. Nonetheless, Defendants
took their unauthorized and unlawful actions in an effort to deflect
attention away from the NCAA’s institutional failures and to expand the
scope of their own authority by exerting control over matters unrelated
to recruiting and athletic competition.
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