McQueary Sues Penn State in Defamation Lawsuit

            Mike McQueary, the former Penn State assistant football coach, is pursuing a lawsuit against the school for defamation and misrepresentation after he reported seeing Jerry Sandusky assault a boy in a campus shower. McQueary claims that he deserves millions of dollars for the anxiety, humiliation, and embarrassment that followed (O'Keefe). Instead of protecting him as a whistleblower, Penn State turned their back on him and prohibited from being on the sidelines, revoked his car benefits under his contract, refused to give him his bowl bonus, barred him from interviewing for a job on new coach Bill O'Brien's staff, and delayed his severance pay. In return, McQueary is seeking $4 million, the same amount he would have made in the next 25 years of coaching football (Frantz).
             The lawsuit focuses on Graham Spanier, the Penn State president, and his role after Sandusky's pedophile actions surfaced. Immediately after Sandusky's arrest, Spanier met with the university's athletic department staff to announce his loyalty to athletic director, Tim Curley, and vice president, Gary Schultz, who were charged with perjury and failure to report sexual abuse (O'Keefe). Spanier claimed that McQueary was lying about what he saw (Frantz). According to McQueary, Spanier "clearly suggested that McQueary was lying in his reports and testimonies that he had reported the sexual misconduct" during the meeting with the department (O'Keefe). .
             McQueary also noted that he "has been labeled and branded as being part of a cover-up, which has caused irreparable harm to his ability to earn a living, especially in his chosen profession as a football coach" (Frantz). .
             Additionally, Penn State placed McQueary on administrative leave since November and recently chose not to renew McQueary's contract. According to McQueary, he was let go because he cooperated with investigators and testified at a preliminary hearing against Curley and Schultz.