Penn St. attacks claims by ex-assistant McQueary

Penn State University assistant football coach Mike McQueary arrives at the Centre County Courthouse to testify in the child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky in Bellefonte, Pa., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. / AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

HARRISBURG, Pa. Penn State's lawyers asked a judge Tuesday to throw out a whistleblower and defamation lawsuit filed by a former assistant football coach who testified he saw Jerry Sandusky attack a boy in a school shower more than a decade ago.

Mike McQueary's lawsuit is too vague and does not meet legal standards to support claims of defamation and misrepresentation, the university wrote in a court filing.

McQueary has sued the university for millions of dollars, claiming in an October complaint that then-president Graham Spanier made him a scapegoat in 2011 after Sandusky, a retired assistant football coach, was arrested on child molestation charges.

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"It is not enough that the alleged victim of a statement be embarrassed or annoyed, he must have suffered the kind of harm which has grievously fractured his standing in the community of a respectable society," wrote Penn State attorney Nancy Conrad.

A phone message seeking comment from McQueary's lawyer, Elliot Strokoff, was not immediately returned.

Sandusky, who spent decades at Penn State under longtime coach Joe Paterno, was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and is serving a lengthy state prison sentence. He maintains his innocence.

Last week, he appeared in a central Pennsylvania courthouse for a hearing on his claim that he did not get a fair trial, in part because his lawyers lacked time to prepare. A judge has not yet ruled in that matter.

Conrad's new filing said that a Nov. 5, 2011, news release by Spanier, in which he expressed "unconditional support" for outgoing athletic director on leave Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz, did not relate to McQueary and did not defame him by innuendo.

McQueary alleges he lost his job because he cooperated with prosecutors, and that Spanier's statements suggested McQueary had lied about the 2001 shower attack. He is seeking reinstatement, a bowl bonus, back pay and benefits, among other things. His salary had been $140,000.

McQueary's "claimed innuendo can only be obtained by means of a tortured and unreasonable construction," Conrad wrote.

Curley and Schultz were arrested along with Sandusky, charged with perjury and failing to properly report suspected abuse. The state attorney general's office recently added more counts against them, and charged Spanier for an alleged cover-up of complaints about Sandusky. All three men deny the allegations and await a court hearing.

McQueary told jurors in the Sandusky case that he arrived in a team locker room late one Friday night and saw Sandusky with a naked boy in the shower, leading him to conclude Sandusky was raping the child. He said he heard a "skin-on-skin smacking sound" and described the encounter as extremely shocking.

[twophad]

Don't back down, McQueary! Penn State's administration deserves to pay through the nose for ignoring this!

[vista8635]

He should take everything he can!

[vista8635]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ty3HVeAkdc

[raymailhot]

Seeing that repercussions for rating out pedophiles happen in third world countries like Pakistan often enough, a university firing the messenger shouldn't surprise America.

[rightontarget]

"McQueary has sued the university for millions of dollars,"
******************************************

Of course he has. McQueary is a punk, pure and simple. He was a little, no good, half azz assistant who was going nowhere and he knew it. If he had been a real man he would have tried to stop the attack that he said he saw instead of waiting awhile and then running to Paterno with his story. He's a football player and assistant for Heaven's sake. Don't you think he could have physically stopped Sandusky at the time?? He is a coward and a punk!!!! He helped throw Joe Paterno (who only did what he was supposed to do by reporting it to those in authority in this situation) under the bus. Sandusky is a low life but Jo Paterno got a raw deal so the trustees and others could blame somebody. Hopefully Mcqueary won't be able to find a job anywhere because he doesn't deserve one and I hope his lawsuit gets thrown out too.

[raymailhot]

So a fan of paterno and sandusky doesn't like anyone who gets in there way.

[endrepubs]

I agree with you 'rightontarget'. McQueary should have intervened during the assault. He is a coward who is now trying to get rich with a lawsuit.

[navysubman]

He reported it to his superiors at the university. He was told that they would take care of it. Should he have gone to the police? Yes, he should have. Is the university trying to get out of taking responsibility for what happened? Yes, it is. The university has been fined and has accepted responsibility. Now that things are cooling down, they are saying,we weren't really responsible, and we should not have to do the things we were told to do. What it comes down to, is the university thinks it is too big to be ordered to clean up it's act.

[Meezermom1951]

What he should have done is walked in, taken a picture and then gone straight to the police department! However, if he was too dense to do that, he had no business with a college degree, no business working for a university and certainly no business keeping his mouth shut for all these years and then coming forward to ask for money! It is rather obvious McQueary cared a lot more for Penn State and the football program than he did for any of the victims so sorry buddy, not one dime for you. Next time use your head for something besides holding a hat on!

[koko98-2009]

I would say that ratting these guys out has already caused plenty of harm to his standing in the community. I am sure they hate him almost as much as Sandusky.

[mrleme]

money, money, money... give me a break and please go lead a quite life. Become a plumber or cabinet maker?

[w_roos]

Money grabber! Meybe he ought to go to a McDonald's and try spilling hot coffee on himself or trip over a slick spot on the floor.

[TheDocD]

Seems to me he belongs in prison for not reporting it at the time it happened. Whistle blower comes out BEFORE allegations not after he's been questioned and then "remembered"..