OT -- The Blackwell lawsuit vs MSU could be interesting
Unfortunately, it will settle before the entertainment value gets too high.
Blackwell claimed he never received a poor annual performance review until he was fired; Dantonio, in court filings, denies that.
A review of Blackwell's personnel file, obtained by The Detroit News, reveals almost universal praise from supervisors.
In a June 2015 performance review, Dantonio wrote that Blackwell was "innovative," "fully engaged," "well connected across U.S.," and "organized," as well as "takes responsibility," "loyal" and "has been a difference-maker in program."
He's not asking for 75K. The amount requested must be at least 75K to be heard in a Federal Court, thus the reason that number appears. I'm not a lawyer but there are plenty of other threads on various sites that have discussed this. The reality is he'll probably settle for much more than that. No way sparty wants this to go to the discovery phase, then Dicktonio can be deposed.
August 5th, 2019 at 11:48 PM ^
Blackwell wasn't exactly fired...just his contract was not renewed. I'm not sure how much of a case he has, but he will undoubtedly get some money to slink away and keep his mouth shut.
August 5th, 2019 at 11:55 PM ^
Can you imagine how much dirt he has on Mork in his locked filing cabinet inside his home? It's no wonder he decided to take legal action. I know I would have.
He keeps the Mork/Staee files in his Red Lock to go Box. Never know when you're going to have to make a quick get away and take your insurance policy with you.
This isn't a joke. I had a manager at my first government job out of college who kept a file like this in her office with all the dirt on her superior, as her own sort of insurance policy.
+1 for the visual. Now I see where the “red locked” came from! -|8-0
August 6th, 2019 at 12:57 AM ^
That's misleading though. He was suspended for several months. MSU also extended his contract twice while he was suspended, for 30 days each time. It was a strange process. If his contract had simply not been renewed, I don't think he'd have a case.
The other issue he has is that Dantonio obviously lied in public about why Blackwell was let go. He said it wasn't due to the case that got him suspended, but things that happened earlier. Pathological liars like Dantonio can't help themselves. They tell lies even when they have no reason to.
My understanding is that the month-to-month extensions were to ensure he would cooperate with the Title IX and other non criminal MSU investigations. He didn't have to sign those extensions. If he's no longer working there, I don't think they could compel him to cooperate.
He would have been required to report whatever he heard about a possible Title IX violation in a timely manner to someone at MSU designated to receive such complaints and not discuss it with anybody else. His failure to do that was a major f up on his part. Of course, Dantonio cited a rather vague "philosophical" differences as the reason for non renewal.
I believe those extensions, were more about MSU (significantly) increasing their control over the narrative that was playing out. If they had bounced Blackwell out during the "extension" times and he would have begun talking the damages would have likely been greater. Does Blackwell hold information that will bring the "mighty" to their knees? Can and/or will he be bought off??? How angry is Blackwell???
MSU has done an "excellent" job of stringing this all encompassing, despicable affair out and kicking this can down the road. Their strategy is clear and evil but not prosecutable. Clearly they are counting on the evidence becoming cold and increasingly difficult to find and the public becoming fatigued and dropping the matter. There has to be a great deal of angst among the reprobates though-as incident after incident pops up and gets revisited.
Dantonio said Blackwell had poor performance reviews. The evidence we have now seems that Blackwell had glowing performance reviews. It appears Dantonio lied, but why did he lie?
It is possible that Blackwell was a fall guy to make it look like MSU was seriously cleaning up and removed a bad apple and is justified in seeking damages. It is also possible that Blackwell was a bad apple, but has enough dirt on Dantonio that he feels MSU will be forced to write him a large check outside of court if he blackmails them. Also, it is possible he is just looking for a payday and doesn't have any cards to play.
Blackwell and I have a mutual friend. He hasn't mentioned the lawsuit, but he said Blackwell blames Hollis for making him the scapegoat, not Dantonio.
I'll be shocked if MSU doesn't settle to avoid depositions. Blackwell surely knows things MSU would not want made public. The difference between him and others that were close to Dantonio is that Blackwell has little to lose by airing their dirty laundry. The fear of being blackballed is what keeps assistants from talking in many cases. It has already happened to Blackwell.
August 6th, 2019 at 12:06 AM ^
Zero chance Dantini sits for a deposition. Staee will settle before that. Honestly surprised Blackwell is still alive and hasn’t suffered an unfortunate accident.
Tough to pick which enabler of rapists' side to take on this one.
I hear what you are saying but it's not tough for me-no way do I choose the sleazy institutional crap.
What the MSU players did was unacceptable.
And Blackwell was in the wrong for violating Title IX rules.
However, I can't shake the feeling that he probably was trying to be a good mentor/person when he went to the players and tried to find out what the heck was happening? It is quite possible he was trying to cover it up, however, he wouldn't be fighting his removal now in court.
I think this was a natural reaction for someone to try and get to the bottom of something for some young kids who made some very bad decisions.
I could be wrong. But that's the vibe I get.
August 6th, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
What the MSU players did was unacceptable.
And Blackwell was in the wrong for violating Title IX rules.
However, I can't shake the feeling that he probably was trying to be a good mentor/person when he went to the players and tried to find out what the heck was happening? It is quite possible he was trying to cover it up, however, he wouldn't be fighting his removal now in court.
I think this was a natural reaction for someone to try and get to the bottom of something for some young kids who made some very bad decisions.
I could be wrong. But that's the vibe I get.
That's the vibe I get as well. And while we know MSU's administration and Title IX Office were negligent, incompetent, or worse regarding these issues in the past, it's hard to believe by the time this story broke that every faculty, administrative, staff, and coaching members were not given detailed, specific instructions regarding Title IX reporting, and probably had to sign off of the fact that they had and understood the training. Still, I doubt failure to report to a Title IX office is a criminal offense, and he was put in handcuffs and taken to the campus police station for further questioning. It seems at that point the presumption was more than just failure to follow Title IX guidelines but that he was obstructing justice, and it's not too hard to believe that in a sense he was made a scapegoat to try to prove to the world that MSU was suddenly taking rape allegations seriously. It sounds like Blackwell is alleging that Hollis, Simon, and or Dantonio had something to do with the police treating a university policy violation like a criminal offense.
I'll admit I don't quite understand all of the details even after reading the article. However, what I DO get is that, if MSU does not deal with this ASAP, it could become a publicity stain, especially in light of everything else that's happened.
I think msu has proven that they have an extremely high tolerance for publicity stains
Maybe Blackwell was a member of the same 'Adult Toy of the Month' club that Zach Smith joined?
August 6th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
urban liar and mork are in the same plausible deniability guild also.
Dantonio lies. If he did not have the record he has against Michigan, he would be fired.
Izzo lies as well.
Just wreck MSU this year and hopefully he retires, his recruiting class is shit for next year also.
Is dantonio even a human being at this point, or has he fully metamorphed into 100% slime?