That conversation, the amended complaint said, consisted of Lipton telling the board members about his — up to that point — fruitless efforts to resolve his issues with the board "amicably" through a settlement process. 

In the course of that conversation, Tebay told him "We ruined your career," and Scott said "You should sue us," the lawsuit said. 

The advocacy group POSSE — composed of survivors of disgraced ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar’s abuse and their parents — is the first group to publicly sound the alarm about Scott and Tebay’s alleged encouragement of Lipton’s lawsuit.

That specific concern was one among many allegations against Scott, Tebay and Trustee Renee Knake Jefferson included in a letter sent by the group to MSU's Office of Audit Risk and Compliance on Tuesday, which called for an investigation into those three trustees.

POSSE argued Tebay and Scott violated the board policy that defines trustees' "fiduciary responsibilities." That policy requires board members to "place the University’s interests ahead of their private interests" and "exercise their powers and duties in the best interests of the Board and the university and for the public good."

In an interview with The State News Wednesday, Tebay said of POSSE's call for an investigation, "There’s a process for this, people have a right to file a complaint against board members that they think need to be investigated, and I will fully participate in that, and that’s where I’ll have that conversation."

Asked if she encouraged Lipton to file the lawsuit against the board, Tebay said "That’s part of the investigation."

Scott and Lipton did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. 

Lipton’s lawsuit

Lipton’s initial lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of Western Michigan in September, argued that Vassar and Denno improperly retaliated against him for comments he made in opposition to them following a contentious Oct. 27, 2023, board meeting. 

That meeting was the board’s first after a letter from Trustee Brianna Scott earlier that month detailed widespread allegations of misconduct by then-board Chair Rema Vassar and called for her resignation. 

In a statement to the Detroit News — referencing disruptions by meeting attendees in support of Vassar — Lipton said Vassar had "elected to let the mob rule the room." (The Faculty Senate, then-chaired by Lipton, had voted prior to the meeting to call for Vassar’s resignation.)  

"The chaos brought and disrespect shown by her supporters could have been stopped by a single statement from Chair Vassar, yet she elected to let the mob rule the room," he said. 

Lipton’s language was perceived by some to be racially charged. Black student leader Missy Chola told The State News in March that the comments weaponized stereotypes that Black people are inherently dangerous or angry.

At the board’s next meeting in December, Lipton apologized for his comments, saying he was not referencing any specific racial or ethnic group, and was instead criticizing then-chair Vassar for not calling for order during the meeting. 

Months later, an outside investigation launched in response to Scott’s allegations against Vassar found that Vassar and her ally on the board, Denno, had been encouraging students to publicly decry Lipton for his comments. The investigation, conducted by law firm Miller & Chevalier, corroborated several other allegations of misconduct Scott made in her letter calling for Vassar’s resignation, and refuted others. The investigation’s findings are cited repeatedly in the lawsuit. 

The investigation recommended the two trustees be censured and referred to the governor for potential removal from office. The board voted to take those actions at a March special meeting. Shortly before that meeting, Vassar resigned as board chair.

To support its finding that the trustees used students to orchestrate a campaign against Lipton, the investigation relied on texts between an anonymous student and Denno. In those texts, Denno gave the student the contact of a reporter, told them to contact said reporter, and instructed the student to tell the reporter "Lipton=racist."

That anonymous student was Palestinian student activist Saba Saed, who told The State News in March that she cooperated with the investigation because she believed the trustees had been manipulating her for personal gain.

The investigation also found that Vassar had encouraged a student to file a complaint with MSU’s accrediting body arguing Lipton’s language endangered Black and brown students. That student has since denied that she was instructed by Vassar to file the complaint and said the evidence used to support said claim was insufficient and incorrect.

Vassar criticized the veracity of Miller & Chevalier’s investigation in a March letter written by her attorneys. In it, Vassar’s attorneys said she wasn’t awarded due process in the investigation and that it drew conclusions based on insufficient evidence.