Mel Tucker is too ill to participate in today's hearing
Tucker won't participate, his attorneys said, because of a "serious medical condition," the details of which have not been disclosed.
Evidently, Tucker's lawyer also sent roughly 100 pages of new evidence to MSU.
The letter included an eight-page letter from one of Tucker's lawyers, Jennifer Belveal, and 98 pages of what the attorney calls previously undisclosed evidence that paints Tracy has been motivated by money. Belveal also is alleging that Tracy deleted "key" evidence.
"We want to be certain that each of you are privy to come some of the newly discovered evidence, primarily in the form of messages authored by Ms. Tracy herself, but also including witness statements, that she hoped (and obviously anticipated) you would never see," Belveal wrote.
The new evidence appears to not be public at the moment, from what I can tell.
October 5th, 2023 at 4:12 PM ^
I assume it IS about him getting richer, or at least getting SOME of the $79,000,000 he was going to get.
October 5th, 2023 at 4:12 PM ^
I assume it IS about him getting richer, or at least getting SOME of the $79,000,000 he was going to get.
October 5th, 2023 at 5:20 PM ^
The issue then comes down to timing of the firing, was it really for morally unacceptable behavior or was it for the PR fallout of an embarrassing allegation (whether or not the allegation falls apart later)? MSU wants to argue that it was basically an immediate reaction to them learning the details of the behavior. Tucker will argue that the relied upon details went up to the president months ahead of the firing which points to a firing for bad PR as opposed to the Uni's stated reasoning. He'll also argue that since the behavior appears closer to a coach/vendor relationship, MSU has not consistently treated similar relationships as firable offenses. Discovery would involve tracking who knew about the investigation and didn't act and I don't think the University wants to deal with that, frankly. Tucker has decent leverage, ESPECIALLY with the allegations becoming increasingly shaky. Trolling around social media today as opposed to the day the allegations broke is pretty night and day. I think MSU pays him to kill it quick
October 5th, 2023 at 12:32 PM ^
Trevor Bauer would like a word.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:27 AM ^
Shocking, a guy that said it was pointless to attend a hearing finds a way to not attend the hearing.
October 5th, 2023 at 12:16 PM ^
Look, Tucker is an idiot but we don't need to fuel conspiracy theories. This article from 9/27 (and I recall reading prior to that) said Tucker alledges he asked for an extended leave due to an illness while he was suspended and MSU denied it.
So the medical issue has been mentioned for weeks. Obviously MSU thinks it's bullshit. Maybe it's like a mental health thing or something elective. I doubt if he had cancer MSU would say it's BS.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/michigan-state-fires-mel-tucker-foo…
October 5th, 2023 at 1:06 PM ^
FMLA complaint comin'
October 5th, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^
I have not followed every step of this. Is there any indication that Brenda Tracy has asked for a dime at this point?
October 5th, 2023 at 10:39 AM ^
Tucker's recent public statement asserted her lawyer once said, "This will take a lot of money to go away."
We don't know what's in this new 100 page document from his lawyers.
Otherwise, no.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
Gotcha--thanks.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:04 AM ^
She charges $10K to speak to football players and Tuck cancelled her 2 planned appearances, but that's the only public info at this point.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:47 AM ^
The texts just released by Tucker's team have her brainstorming various ways to get money without having to go public as early as 2022. This is selective release from Tucker's side, but it's hard to read through them and not understand that she very much was angling for a payout from Tucker
October 5th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
I admittedly have not gone through all the texts, but this stuff (highlighted in an article) does not contradict her claim re: Tucker's behavior:
“Having him just sign an NDA tho just means he did it. No one will know and there are no consequences for him.”
At 2:48 p.m. Sept. 1, 2022, Tracy said, “Money is my only recourse to make him feel like there is a punishment.”
Seven minutes later, the letter claims Tracy texted, “When they do the money, I should make him pay me 10K directly. Or ask, anyway.”
On Dec. 9, 2022, Tracy texted Alvarado, “I’m filing a formal complaint with MSU. ... Karen [Tracy's attorney] said after that we can let him know that we want to come to an agreement, then it doesn’t have to go to a hearing or anything unless he wants it to.”
October 5th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
Yes, I have now found the letter from his lawyer. A ton of the texts are redacted, I'm assuming redacted by his lawyer in what was made public, but not redacted in what they sent to MSU.
So really, the only thing worth reviewing is what's in their 8-page letter.
There's no smoking gun, but there is smoke.
October 5th, 2023 at 12:21 PM ^
My two cents: The "He’s one of those -- in another life" text contradicts his claim that they were in a relationship--at least when she sent that text. They had a relationship that went beyond merely working together per the various texts. But here, where she was apparently being candid with her good friend, she implied that there was not a romantic relationship (again, at least at that time).
October 5th, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
I agree with that. She has always acknowledged they had a close, personal relationship. The people who came to Mel's defense on the internet liked to pretend that she claimed they only had a business relationship, but that's not true. She agreed they discussed private matters in her statements she gave to the investigator.
Before the April phone call, there are texts that show her discussing trying to get him to pay for a couple things and also remarking on his contract, and also remarking that she has no money. Those texts were not all at the same time, so that proves nothing except that she--like the rest of us--was dumbstruck by his contract, likes to get things for free, and wishes she had more money in her bank account. Big deal.
After the April phone call, she talks a little bit about making him pay, literally, to be punitive. And also making him pay her the $10,000 speaking fee that he canceled on her.
None of that sounds like it's her having set him up from the beginning or her even trying to cash in on a $10,000,000 lawsuit to me.
I think the worst things here for Tracy is that she clearly viewed herself as being "with" Damon Stoudamire (lol, poor Stoudamire getting dragged into this) while telling the investigator that she doesn't get involved with the people who are in her field.
Also Mel's lawyers are bringing in new witness testimony:
Further, as also revealed by this new witness, Ms. Tracy went to extraordinary lengths to try to stop Ms. Tracy’s written communications (a fraction of which are referenced in this letter) with Ms. Alvarado from ever seeing the light of day. As detailed in the new witness’s sworn statement, while Ms. Tracy’s supposed friend lay dying in a hospital, and even after her death, Ms. Tracy sought to sleep over at Ms. Alvarado’s house (in her room) and repeatedly asked Ms. Alvarado’s family for access to Ms. Alvarado’s phone and computers:
"It really struck me odd that she would want Ahlan’s things and would be asking Ahlan’s family for them as Ahlan lay dying in her hospital bed."
Nothing proven, but Ahlan's family member (or someone like that) seems to have viewed this as strange and suspicious behavior.
And they were able to show that Tracy used selective texts in the investigation:
Indeed, Ms. Tracy omitted some of this evidence when providing self-serving selective excerpts of her text messages with Ms. Alvarado to the investigator. As one example, Ms. Tracy provided the below text exchange to the investigator to insinuate that Mr. Tucker brought her to the Spring Game with ulterior motives:
(There were a bunch of texts about her being upset that Mel didn't speak about her mission enough at the Spring game. She didn't really insinuate much, but she did seem upset.)
However, Ms. Tracy conveniently omitted her further texts to Ms. Alvarado—just two hours later—affirming that, actually, once MSU posted about her on social media everything was good and she was feeling positive about Mr. Tucker. She specifically excluded reference to her statements that:
"MSU posted and Coach isn’t being weird at all. Feels like all is good[.] And I all of a sudden have a tshirt discussion with licensing at MSU and some non athletic staff and a T-shirt company[.] Blessings on blessings when you stay the course and do what’s right. . . . No regrets. My heart is good and so is my conscience[.]"
Ms. Tracy hid the true nature of her sentiment toward Mr. Tucker following the Spring Game to try to convince OIE that she had a legitimate harassment claim.
Again, they've proven nothing, but they've done a much better job this time, in my opinion, of painting the picture of her being overly selective and manipulative through the investigation process.
October 5th, 2023 at 4:14 PM ^
The big ones not mentioned here so far that are scary are the two below. The texts about Damon are clearing her mixing her business with romance. The second is her underscores the money argument. It seems like she wanted to use this to get paid and she stated that her lawyer told her that it could be seen as extortion.
Brenda Tracy texts A:
I’ve also asked him to do stuff rather than letting him lead. I mean he asked but maybe it’s not 200% genuine. I mean Damon had two reasons for bringing me to speak to his college team.
I’ve been more assertive than other coaches bc I know I can. No more of that.
Brenda Tracy texts B:
Karen - a lawyer is reaching out to the head lawyer at MSU to discuss what this might look like moving forward. She’s going to gauge their response and we will go from there but sounds like we will be asking Tucker to not speak on me or
the incident and him or MSU will need to make an anonymous donation to STE so that we can further our work.
Karen said once she can test their tolerance - like do they just want this to just go away - then she’ll be able to better help me make decisions.
Having him just sign an NDA tho just means he did it no one will know and there are no consequences for him.
Money is my only recourse to make him feel like there is a punishment and I can request it be anonymous so that he can’t take credit for it
Not even sure he would agree to it but I think I should try and if it leaked then it’s a donation to my work and not me
They said it would be a bad idea to call him.
Could look like I tried to extort him and then followed it up with a lawyer
October 5th, 2023 at 5:22 PM ^
Correct. But the money angle that she asserted didn't exist, does exist. The witness statement excerpts do contradict her claims about his behavior though. Just another party to the he said she said (other she said) pile, though.
October 5th, 2023 at 12:11 PM ^
As you said, Tucker's latest submission has texts from Tracey to her assistant discussing the possibility of a settlement very early. To be fair, she also writes that she's worried that a quick settlement with MSU wouldn't punish Tucker.
Looking back at the USA Today article, Tracey didn't tell USA Today that she wasn't interested in discussing settlement, just that she had rejected Tucker's offers.
http://clickondetroit.com/sports/2023/10/05/mel-tuckers-lawyer-presents…
October 5th, 2023 at 10:35 AM ^
I'm pretty sure he had a stroke.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:47 AM ^
multiple strokes
October 5th, 2023 at 10:38 AM ^
Smart move on the attorneys' part. I think the less Tucker talks, the better for his case.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
It's not hot enough outside for it to be dehydration...oh, wait a second.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:44 AM ^
Will his high-paid counsel be in attendance?
October 5th, 2023 at 11:08 AM ^
That’s the 80 million dollar question
October 5th, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
I assume yes. Note also that when his salary was on the line, Tuck hired a UM law grad. State might fire him for that alone. :)
October 5th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
MSU undergrad, though.
Also, her letter states that OIE doesn't let them participate if their client doesn't.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^
Bone spur
October 5th, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^
Lower body injury, out for the game.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:46 AM ^
“Look, man, I've got certain information, all right? Certain things have come to light. And, you know, has it ever occurred to you, that, instead of, uh, you know, running around, uh, uh, blaming me, you know, given the nature of all this new shit, you know…”
October 5th, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^
what am I blathering about? New shit has come to light man.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:51 AM ^
Translated:
we're expecting to be offered a sizeable settlement before the hearing
October 5th, 2023 at 11:11 AM ^
Hearing is today, so it's coming down to the wire if that's the case.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:58 AM ^
And they have the nerve to talk UFM
October 5th, 2023 at 10:58 AM ^
Tucker's lawyers claim Brenda Tracy has engaged in other "consensual, personal relationships" with other married coaches.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:02 AM ^
Sounds like he talked to Urban Meyer, who always seems to come up with a serious illness whenever the situation is getting too hot to deal with.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:08 AM ^
Did she trick them into jerking off in their university offices too?
October 5th, 2023 at 11:11 AM ^
Honestly, that could be bad for her if it’s true. Like very bad for her brand.
Doesn’t change what Tucker did or his level of idiocy. It does change the perspective of all of this.
October 5th, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
"big if true"
It's just lawyery slander, nothing to see here.
October 5th, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
I mean, her brand is probably ruined at this point. Or at the very least, she'll have to go away for awhile and reinvent herself. The point of releasing these texts is to ruin her.
October 5th, 2023 at 3:47 PM ^
I don't know. I think that the public rallied around her early. I think the Tucker transgressions highlighted how nothing has changed over the past 30 years and the need for her services and the awareness that she brings.
On the other hand, to your point, there are programs that would stay away from her to 'avoid a potential headache.'
I'm in the minority here, but I think these texts look bad. It's documentation that supports Tucker's claim that she was after money. Beyond that, the sworn testimony is ever worse. The witness who made a statement under oath effectively said that she tried to get access to Alvarado's devices to coverup what happened... while Alvarado was on her death bed.
I think that today's information has an impact that extends beyond her. It paints her someone who is exploiting her position for financial gain. That casts doubt on victims who come forward. Keep in mind, this is on the heels of the Trevor Bauer video where he shared texts of lindsey hill's text explicitly talking about making false sexual allegation claims for financial gain.
October 5th, 2023 at 4:41 PM ^
Keep in mind, this is on the heels of the Trevor Bauer video where he shared texts of lindsey hill's text explicitly talking about making false sexual allegation claims for financial gain.
Exactly. Tracy's texts don't do that. At least not the ones we've seen. I don't think any of this is good for Tracy, and for the first time (IMO) there are things that begin to chip away at her credibility.
But really what the texts show is that she wanted to benefit (gifts, donations) from her relationship with Mel, while keeping him at a distance romantically. Even the texts they have today show her talking about Mel "not making it weird" because he clarified that saying "I love you" was as a friend.
And then they show that once she felt he crossed a line, she started figuring out a different way to get money from him since she no longer wanted to entertain his friendship...which she decided after he canceled her second speaking engagement.
Like I said, credibility cracked, but nothing that shows she was scheming from the start to trick him into sexually harassing her so that she could sue him for money.
October 5th, 2023 at 6:29 PM ^
The bottom line is Mel was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with a vendor, which he had admitted to. The point of doing all this, to "undermine her credibility," isn't going to get him his job back or restore his credibility to the point where everyone thinks he's innocent and job offers will come pouring in. It's punitive, pure and simple. That's how these battles are fought, without an actual benefit like getting your job back. You made me look bad so I'm going to make you look bad. There's no way MSU is backing down from any of this. And yeah, I guess you could argue that we're now talking about the size of the payout he's going to get (because he's going to get something), but I think it's really more about ruination and pay back. The idea that Brenda Tracy plotted to take down Mel Tucker by lying about what happened on that phone call after having had a consensual romantic relationship is lunacy. I still think he misconstrued their relationship (it happens) and found himself in a compromising position because of hubris and ego (also happens). But in this case, it's a fireable offense.
October 5th, 2023 at 6:55 PM ^
The issue of credibility is a significant part of how a hearing officer will make a determination in an RVSM case. Who seems like they're lying and who doesn't? What most likely happened?
It's not a courtroom so we're not talking about beyond reasonable doubt.
I just read in a USA Today article about today's news that this new evidence can't be actually submitted for review until at such point that Mel appeals the decision following the hearing. So if/when that happens, it matters very much about who is more credible. The answer might still be Tracy.
None of this has to do with the wrongful termination lawsuit.
Now, as was pointed out to me elsewhere when I said that, everything Mel is doing is about the wrongful termination lawsuit. They didn't get all these text messages to win an RVSM case, they did it to get a big payout from MSU on his contract.
And I get that. Ultimately the money is what he's after. If he's found to have not been in violation of the school policy, well that's a bonus.
And yes, also somewhere on his agenda is revenge.
October 5th, 2023 at 7:56 PM ^
That's my point -- the investigation already happened, and Michigan State ostensibly has all the information it needs to terminate his employment. Since this isn't a crime, everything that's being released is for PR purposes, to make him look like the victim and to make her look untrustworthy.
October 5th, 2023 at 8:11 PM ^
I thought your point was his top priority is to smear her and it's not really about anything else for him because he already lost.
My point was it serves a more practical purpose for him: an attempt to win the RVSM case and keep dragging MSU through shit so they will hurry up and settle. Smearing her is just another side-benefit (from his perspective).
Whatever. We're essentially in agreement overall. I think.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:01 AM ^
Hazarding a guess? This is surely going to get *very* ugly. And it's probably much more complex than we are assuming.
(popcorn gif goes here because I don't know how apply one from desktop PC)
October 5th, 2023 at 11:30 AM ^
Here's the world's oldest teenager, Andrea Zuckerman, for you.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:38 AM ^
I also suspect that Tucker is going to get much more than a little bit of money from MSU. This entire set of events, investigations, etc. was handled so poorly in so many ways by so many people, that it's amazing.
You can NOT make this stuff up - no one is that creative!