The terms of the settlement agreement are still being drafted, Lipton wrote in a text message to The State News. Lipton and his attorney, Liz Abdnour, declined to comment further on the filing.

Trustees Denno and Vassar, and their attorneys, did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

The settlement marks the end of a year-long legal battle between Lipton and the two trustees, which was at the center of an explosive outside investigation into the board members' misconduct.

The dispute between Lipton and the trustees traces back to October 2023. That month, The State News published a letter written by Trustee Brianna Scott that alleged widespread misdonduct by Vassar, who was then the chair of the board, and called for her resignation. After the letter was publicized, the Faculty Senate — then chaired by Lipton — voted to call for Vassar's resignation. 

During a tense board meeting at the end of that month, speakers hotly debated the issue. Some supported Scott's call for Vassar's resignation, while others came to Vassar's defense, describing the allegations against her as untrue and exaggerated.

It was a statement Lipton made to The Detroit News after the meeting that ultimately proved pivotal in his dispute with Vassar and Denno. His comment referenced disruptions by meeting attendees in support of Vassar.

In The Detroit News' article about the meeting, Lipton was quoted as saying, "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."

Lipton’s language was perceived by some to be racially charged (Vassar is Black.) Black student leader Missy Chola later said that the comments weaponized stereotypes that Black people are inherently dangerous or angry. At the board’s next meeting in December 2023, 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. 

In February 2024, an outside investigation into Scott's allegations against Vassar was launched at MSU's request. Conducted by the law firm Miller & Chevalier, the probe refuted some of Scott's allegations, but corroborated several others, including that she accepted flights on a donor's private jet and overstepped her authority as board chair in negotiating the settlement of a lawsuit.

It also contained a new revelation: Vassar and her ally on the board, Denno, had been encouraging students to publicly decry Lipton for his comment in The Detroit News.

To support that finding, the investigation referenced texts between Denno and a student activist. In the exchance, Denno gave the student the contact information of a reporter. The student asked what to say to the reporter, to which Denno replied "Lipton=racist."

Miller's & Chevalier's investigative report sourced that text message exchange from an anonymous source, but that person, Palestinian student activist Saba Saed, later told The State News 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 Chola, the student leader, to file a complaint with MSU’s accrediting body, arguing Lipton’s language endangered Black and Brown students. Chola 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.

Miller & Chevalier concluded its report with a set of recommendations for the board on how to move forward. Among other things, the firm advised that Vassar and Denno be referred to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for potential removal from office — a power vested in her under an obscure, seldom-used state statute. The board voted to take those actions at a March 2024 special meeting. Shortly before that meeting, Vassar resigned as board chair. 

Vassar criticized the veracity of the Miller & Chevalier report in a March 2024 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.

Whitmer ultimately decided in May not to remove either trustee, though her office noted that the decision was not meant to condone their conduct.

Lipton filed his lawsuit in October 2024. He told The State News at the time that Vassar and Denno incorrectly characterized his comments in a way that "silenced" him and "materially hurt (his) career."

In December that year, Lipton amended his lawsuit to include new information, including comments that Board Chair Kelly Tebay and Scott made to him in which they seemingly encouraged him to sue the board over Vassar and Denno's labelling of him as racist. 

In May this year, The Detroit News reported, a federal judge dismissed portions of Lipton's lawsuit, ruling out his claims against the other trustees on the board at the time of the dispute, as well as claims against the board as a whole and Denno in his official capacity. The judge did allow Lipton to continue pursuing his claims against Vassar in both her official and individual cpacities, as well as against Denno in his individual capacity. 

The judge also determined that Lipton’s complaints "sufficiently state a claim" that Vassar and Denno may have violated his First Amendment rights.