McQueary Files Defamation Suit Against Penn State
Hailey Hurowitz
October 2nd, 2012
In Harrisburg, Pa, a former Penn State graduate assistant who said he saw former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky showering with a young boy on campus and testified at his sex abuse trial sued the university on Tuesday for what he calls defamation and misrepresentation. Mike McQueary's lawsuit claims his treatment by the university since Sandusky was arrested in November has caused him distress, anxiety, humiliation, and embarrassment. The complaint, filed in county court near State College, where the university is based, is seeing millions of dollars in damages. Penn State spokesman, Dave La Torre declined to comment on Tuesday, and McQueary's lawyer, Elliot Strokoff did not return a phone message. The lawsuit discloses that shortly after Sandusky was charged, the university's then president, Graham Spanier, met with athletic department staff inside the university's football stadium and told his support for athletic director, Tim Curley and vice president, Gary Schultz, who had been charged with perjury and failure to properly report suspected child abuse in the Sandusky case. Spanier also gave a public statement with the same message. Curley, now on leave, and Schultz, who has retired, have denied the charges against them many of times, and now they await trial. McQueary said Spanier's support of the two administrators was designed to preserve the university's reputation and make McQueary a fool. McQueary, whose contract with Penn State wasn't renewed, testified this summer that he came upon Sandusky and the boy in a sexually suggestive position in a team shower in early 2001. He told jurors at Sandusky's trail he saw that the boy's hands were against a wall and Sandusky was behind him, with his midsection moving subtly, and he heard a "skin-on-skin smacking sound." McQueary reported that to then-head football coach, Joe Paterno, who alerted Curley and Schultz. Paterno was fired after three men were charged, and he died of complications from lung cancer in January. McQueary says that the November meeting with Spanier cleary suggested that McQueary was lying in his reports and testimonies that he had reported the sexual misconduct. Spanier's statements have ruined MacQueary's reputation for honesty and integrity, and have ruined his ability to earn a living. Messages left for Spanier and his lawyer on Tuesday were not quickly returned. The lawsuit said McQueary, placed on administrative leave Nov. 11, learned his contract was not being renewed, meaning he was no longer a university employee, from a news conference held in July by the university's new president, Rodney Erickson. He said his salary last year was $140,000 and his future earnings as a coach would amount to at least $4 million. He claims he was let go because he cooperated with investigators, testified at the preliminary hearing for Curley and Schultz and is expected to be a main witness against them at trial. He wants reinstatement, money that he lost while he was on leave, legal fees, back pay and benefits through the Sandusky trial, among with other things. Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator, was convicted in June on charges he sexually abused 10 boys, some on campus. He remains jailed awaiting sentencing next week. Eight young men testified against Sandusky, describing a lot of abuse they said went from grooming and manipulation to fondling, oral sex, and anal rape when they were boys. Sandusky still says he is innocent, saying that he did shower with boys, but saying that he never molested them. He is most likely going to get a sentencing that will keep him in prison for life.
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