Three weeks after he was “suspended with intent to terminate”, former Baylor football coach Art Briles is not going out quietly.
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Essentially, by claiming he can not be represented by the school’s attorney after his firing, Briles’ personal representation is arguing that the school is obligated to share “all of the investigation documentation and interview notes and materials, oral or video recordings, emails, text messages and any information of whatever type that was gathered by the law firm of Pepper Hamilton from Baylor University and Coach Art Briles which concluded in its published Findings of Fact” among other things.
Art Briles is now ready to open up about his firing through his attorney, and the 60-year-old took the opportunity to rip Baylor. Multiple outlets also reported this week that some wealthy Baylor donors were pushing Baylor regents to bring Briles back, but effort appeared to fizzle out by Wednesday.
Briles has been named with Baylor as a codefendant in a lawsuit filed by former Baylor student Jasmin Hernandez, who in 2012 was raped by Baylor player Tevin Elliott, who has since been convicted and is serving a prison sentence.
The criticism in a motion filed Thursday as part of the lawsuit.
The filing Thursday goes further into the issue of due process, claiming Briles was sacked without a pre-termination hearing, which was required by his contract.
Briles also alleges he wasn’t informed or privy to the moves made by the firm representing Baylor, such as a plan to settle the suit out of court.
An internal report on the sexual assault incidents by players that were swept under the carpet used the words “horrified” and “shocked” and “outraged” for creating the perception that football was above the rules has now been overshadowed by a move from big-buck boosters who want to save Briles as the coach after a one-year suspension. Simpson on Monday, stated that he’d like to see Briles return as head coach.
An interesting report from the Associated Press surfaced on Thursday morning.
The letter says Briles “does not wish to settle the case”, contrary to what Baylor lawyers told the judge last week.
Attorney Alex Zalkin, who represents Hernandez, said he wasn’t concerned about the “infighting” between Briles and Baylor and is focused only on Friday’s settlement mediation meeting.
“That’s some infighting between them”, Zalkin said.
On June 10, Baylor announced the formation of two complementary task forces to address the 105 recommendations that resulted from the investigation, led by the law firm Pepper Hamilton.
The letter from Briles’ attorney suggests the coach is still vigorously fighting the decision to fire him and is willing to wage a disruptive legal fight with his former school.
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“Due to the deeply personal and sensitive nature of individual cases and federal law, we do not publicly address specific cases, even when a student publicly shares details or reports of his or her own experience”.
