Tucker, once one of the highest-paid college football coaches in the country, was fired in September 2023 after a USA TODAY story revealed him to be the subject of a long-running sexual harassment investigation. 

Tucker made sexual comments and masturbated on a phone call with Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor who had consulted for MSU’s football team about sexual violence awareness, without her consent, the investigation found.

During USA TODAY’s investigation of Tucker’s interactions with Tracy, "its reporters also became aware of other allegations of sexual misconduct by Tucker with female employees and staff," according to the lawsuit. 

Shortly after the story broke, USA TODAY filed a public records request for the employment records of Tucker’s former personal assistant, whom the news outlet considers to be "another possible victim" of Tucker’s sexual impropriety, according to the lawsuit.

MSU partly denied its request, citing "generic, statutory exceptions," according to the lawsuit. The records the university did release were heavily redacted and two pages were entirely blank.

USA TODAY unsuccessfully appealed the denial in December 2023.

The lawsuit argues the withheld information would enrich "the public's understanding of the operations of MSU and its Board of Trustees in the face of a sexual misconduct scandal involving its (formerly) highest paid employee."

MSU is "a public body, and we think the information that was requested is public information," said USA TODAY attorney Herschel Fink.

University Spokesperson Emily Gerkin Guerrant declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said that MSU’s Office of Institutional Equity and campus police department would have addressed any additional concerns about Tucker.

 "If there were any additional concerns that came forward or were reported … they would have been investigated or reviewed," Guerrant said.

Tucker's attorneys did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.