Brenda Tracy, a woman who accused Michigan State University’s then-head football coach Mel Tucker of sexual harassment, intends to sue him. She also plans to sue the school, its board of trustees, and others for $75 million in damages.
The suit stems from the rape survivor and advocate’s allegations that Tucker sexually harassed her. She claims the school failed to investigate her claims of Tucker’s misbehavior properly. In addition, she argues that “a yet-to-be-identified MSU affiliated party” inappropriately leaked her identity to the news media.
Brenda Tracy also claims that Tucker’s sexual harassment and subsequent threats sullied her reputation. The rape survivor mentioned Tucker’s release of her private text messages with her deceased best friend and business assistant.
Furthermore, she cited the university’s failure to prevent the misconduct and maintain the confidentiality of its investigation into her claims. Her filings also allege that those actions damaged her charitable work and future earnings. She claimed they caused her severe psychological and emotional harm.
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“Until now, Brenda Tracy has had to remain quiet about the past year’s events,” said her attorney, Karen Truszkowski. “This is her opportunity to respond to the falsehoods and harms she has endured.” Tracy filed a complaint with MSU’s Title IX office in December 2022.
She alleged that Tucker made sexual comments and masturbated during an April 2022 phone call, according to USA Today. “The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma,” Tracy said in an interview.
“But then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me.” “It’s hard for me to even wrap my mind around it,” she continued. “It’s like he sought me out just to betray me.” Following the allegations, MSU fired Tucker on September 27.
“While I am sad by Ms. Tracy’s disclosure of the sensitive nature of this call,” Tucker said in a statement. “Let me be perfectly clear: it was an entirely mutual, private event between two adults living at opposite ends of the country.”
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Many know the facts of Tracy’s case, which became public in September 2023 during an investigation. According to reports, Tucker hired Brenda Tracy to speak to his team about sexual violence prevention in August 2021. By then, more than 100 schools and NFL teams had brought her to campus to tell her gut-wrenching rape survival story.
Reports say four football players, including two from Oregon State University, brutally gang-raped her in 1998. Hence, Tucker expressed interest in Tracy’s cause of engaging men as the solution to gender-based violence. They stayed in touch after she visited the campus, maintaining a professional relationship centered on her advocacy work.
Over the next year, Tucker twice invited Tracy back to East Lansing: first, to be the honorary captain at a Spartans football game, and again, for a training session. During that time, Tucker allegedly made a series of romantic overtures toward Tracy.
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However, she told campus investigators she tried to set boundaries with Tucker while maintaining their business partnership. Each time, she said, Tucker initially pulled back, then later resumed advances that increased in severity. The pattern culminated in the April 2022 phone call.
Afterward, the two spoke four months later. Brenda Tracy said Tucker threatened to ruin her career if she spoke out. She claimed Tucker said he would reschedule her planned visit that summer but never did. Hence, she reported him to the school in December 2022.
According to court papers, Tracy intends to file two suits against Tucker, MSU, and the other parties. One under her name for $50 million and a second under her non-profit “Set The Expectation” for $25 million. Court papers say she has the potential to sue on more than 20 different claims.
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