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Art Briles is Suing Baylor Officials for Conspiracy and Libel

Art Briles has sued four Baylor officials for allegedly conspiring to keep him unemployed, libel, and slander.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Former Baylor head football coach Art Briles has filed a suit against various members of the Baylor administration for conspiracy and libel following his ouster from the program in May.

Briles was fired after an investigation by Pepper Hamilton found widespread deficiencies in Baylor's handling of reported instances of sexual assault by Baylor football players. The investigation "found examples of actions by University administrators that directly discouraged complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes or that contributed to or accommodated a hostile environment. In one instance, those actions constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault." Several victims came forward at the time and named Briles as one of those who knew and did nothing, and even worked with university police to allegedly cover up those allegations.

Briles' lawsuit, filed in Llano County, Texas, alleges that three regents and the school's vice president falsely stated that Briles was aware of, and failed to report, several assaults and the alleged gang rapes by his own players. Briles also alleges that they conspired to keep him from getting another job. Specifically, the suit names "regents Chairman Ronald Murff, board members J. Cary Gray and David Harper, and Baylor Vice President Reagan Ramsower."

In October, Baylor Regents, including J. Cary Gray, spoke with the Wall Street Journal and said Briles knew about the gang rapes, telling the Journal "There was a cultural issue there that was putting winning football games above everything else, including our values." Briles has been radioactive since May, and it was recently reported that he was considered a candidate for the Houston job before Houston quickly said he was not. Less than a week later, he filed his suit.

There is no good guy, here. Art Briles has been accused of, at best, turning his eye from sexual assault committed by his players, and at worst, covering up serious episodes of rape. Nearly six months after the scandal began—and six months after they threw their support behind their coach—the Baylor Regents finally saw that there was no coming back from this and did some cowardly damage control and threw Briles to the lions in the Journal. Now they'e all gonna spend a bunch of money paying attorneys. They all deserve each other.

[WaPo]