Sexual violence awareness speaker and victim of Mel tucker's harassment, Brenda Tracy approaches the podium to confront the Board of Trustees during a meeting at the Hannah Administration building in East Lansing, Michigan, on Oct. 25, 2024.
Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor and advocate who was sexually harassed by former football coach Mel Tucker, is suing the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.
The 51-page document obtained by The State News lists the board as defendants alongside Trustees Rema Vassar and Dennis Denno, who are named individually in their personal and official capacities. The two previously retained independent legal counsel for a separate investigation relating to Tracy’s harassment.
Tracy’s story was made public in September 2023 after she says she was forced to go to USA Today following her identity being "wrongfully and intentionally disclosed to local media," according to the document.
An investigation was launched into who leaked her identity the same month, and an investigation by The State News found that the leak was from someone associated with the Board of Trustees.
According to the document, in July 2023 the Office of Institutional Equity made Tracy aware that two media outlets "had inquired about the existence of an investigation into Tucker’s alleged sexual misconduct." One of those outlets was Crain’s Detroit Business, of which the suit notes that Vassar had affiliations with through former Trustee Brian Mosallam.
It goes on to claim that general counsel for United Wholesale Mortgage David Zacks, who Tucker originally claimed as his support person for the investigation, directed OIE to include him in communications relating to the investigation.
According to the suit, Tracy was not aware that OIE was communicating with Zacks.
The university did not comment on whether or not the communication between OIE and Zacks is standard practice for investigations, nor did they comment broadly on the lawsuit.
Because UWM owner Mat Ishbia was the largest contributor to Tucker’s salary, the suit claims that OIE is giving the appearance of a conflict of interest by "communicating details of a confidential RVSM investigation to the general counsel of a major MSU donor who contributes to Tucker’s salary."
In March 2023, Vassar flew to Madison Square Garden with Tucker and Ishbia on Ishbia’s private jet.
"An inference could be made that during the MSG Trip Tucker, Vassar, and Ishbia discussed the OIE investigation and ostensibly, Tracy's identity as the claimant," according to the document.
Additionally, it cites a text message exchange between Vassar and another former Trustee, Pat O’Keefe in September 2023 in which the latter claimed that Tracy was revealing confidential information to the media in order to "extract her own revenge."
The document claims that in this exchange, she was falsely accused of leaking her own name, which in turn exposed her to heightened threats of violence.
The defendants, including the rest of the board, never addressed these remarks, it claims.
"Any allegations implying unethical behavior are false," Vassar wrote in a statement to The State News. "I stand firmly on my integrity and my lifelong dedication to education. I will not jeopardize the future of our students, nor the trust placed in me by the community I serve."
The allegations against Denno relate to his refusal to participate in the leak investigation relating to Tracy’s case, which led to him being censured and temporarily stripped of his official duties in March 2024. Denno was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
In October 2023, Tucker released evidence prior to a hearing that was taken off the cell phone of Tracy’s deceased former business manager Ahlan Alvarado, which the suit claims contained confidential and personal information between Tracy and Alvarado.
"The defendants have taken no steps whatsoever to address the release of the confidential information from Alvarado’s phone," it reads.
Broadly, the suit claims that the defendants’ actions not only contributed to Tracy’s identity being revealed to the public, but that they have done nothing to address the harassment she’s faced in the wake of the event and have continued to escalate it.
It includes screenshots of various threats against Tracy through Instagram, iMessages and Cashapp.
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"You’re the reason we’re losing games just cause you wanted a check man f— you," one of them reads.
According to the lawsuit, Tracy eventually realized that she was being stalked and followed in addition to the threats and attacks.
In total, the suit brings seven counts against the defendants: breach of statutory duty as to all defendants, breach of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees code of ethics and conduct, misconduct in office as to Vassar and Denno, Violation of 42 U.S.C 1983 and the 14th Amendment substantive and procedural due process, breach of contract as to the Board of Trustees, tortious interference with contract and gross negligence.
The requests include compensatory damages, punitive damages as well as injunctive relief.
The actual damages requested include $10,000 for a visit Tracy scheduled that was later canceled by Tucker.
