Mel Tucker skips sex harassment hearing, alleges new 'evidence' proves innocence

Fired Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker did not show up to the much-anticipated hearing Thursday morning in the sexual harassment case against him, nor did his attorney.

Instead, 14 minutes into the hearing, they blasted out to the media an eight-page letter addressed to the MSU Board of Trustees and Interim President Teresa Woodruff. It said they had obtained "newly discovered evidence" that they allege demonstrates his innocence and shows his accuser, prominent rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy, intentionally misled the investigator about events leading up to a phone call in April 2022, during which she says Tucker masturbated without her consent.

The letter said a "serious medical condition" prohibited Tucker from participating in the hearing, without elaborating on the nature of the ailment. He had previously said that he had asked to take leave under the Family Medical Leave Act "days before" athletic director Alan Haller told Tucker on Sept. 18 that he intended to fire him for cause.

Tucker and his attorney, Jennifer Belveal, said in the letter that "approximately 20,000 new communications or documents" involving Tracy "completely contradict" her claims. The letter includes 98 heavily redacted pages of text messages between Tracy and her deceased best friend and booking assistant, Ahlan Alvarado, from September 2021 through May 2023, which appear to have been extracted from Alvarado's cellphone.

Tucker and Belveal say the texts show Tracy had been in a romantic relationship with a basketball coach and that she had been struggling financially around the time she filed her complaint against Tucker with the university in December. They also show she and her attorney discussed settling with Tucker before she reported him – which they say "decimate" her assertion that money did not motivate her to come forward.

Reached by phone during a break in the hearing, which is the penultimate step in the school’s investigation into her sexual harassment claim, Tracy said she had been taken aback by the letter, adding that she had not yet had time to read it in full. She said she would address each of its claims after the hearing ends.

"I showed up to the hearing today," Tracy said. "Tucker didn't but instead intentionally put out more lies and mischaracterizations in what I can only assume is an attempt to interrupt the hearing. As I give this comment, I am due back in the hearing."

She characterized the hearing as uneventful until the break, when she learned of the letter. During the hearing, Tracy said her attorney, Karen Truszkowski, questioned her for about 30 minutes and the hearing officer, outside attorney Amanda Norris Ames, questioned her for about 20 more.

Norris Ames asked about the April 2022 phone call, Tucker’s alleged threat during an August 2022 call, and other interactions between her and Tucker in the months leading up to the incident, Tracy said. Among other things, Truszkowski asked how the situation has impacted her and her career, why she decided to come forward and whether she had ever accused any other coaches she had worked with of misconduct, to which she said she had not.

One additional witness – director of football operations Ben Mathers – was expected to appear for questioning this afternoon, Tracy said, but he did not show up either. Mathers previously told the investigator he had “selfishly” not been fully accurate and requested the day after his interview to revise his statement.

More:Assistants' testimony could play key role in Michigan State sexual harassment case against Mel Tucker

Norris Ames will have 20 days after the hearing to issue a report concluding whether the evidence raised during the seven-month investigation and hearing is sufficient to establish that Tucker violated school policies against sexual harassment and exploitation.

Tucker is accused of making sexual comments and masturbating without Tracy's consent during an April 2022 phone call, after hiring Tracy to speak to his team about sexual violence. Her complaint alleged Tucker pursued her romantically for months, culminating in that call, despite her repeated efforts to set boundaries, and subsequently threatened to harm her reputation if she spoke out.

Tucker claims they had been in a romantic relationship and had consensual “phone sex.” His and his attorney’s latest letter also says they obtained a witness statement "under oath" from a person they declined to name, who apparently said Tucker and Tracy had been in “some sort of relationship” and had consensual phone sex.

The letter goes on to say that text messages to Alvarado show Tracy had been willing in November 2021 to allow Tucker to help finance a marketing project she had been working on and that in January 2022, Tucker told her he “loved her” as a friend. Additionally, Tucker said her relationship with a basketball coach contradicts what she had told Tucker – that she doesn’t date coaches with whom she has worked.

Alvarado died in June after after a car accident in Maricopa County.

Tracy told USA TODAY these messages are consistent with her account that he showed interest in her and that they had been on good terms prior to the April 2022 incident. She said she had dated the basketball coach in the 1990s, stayed friends with him after and dated him again briefly in 2021.

In the messages with Alvarado, Tracy also said in November that Tucker should “pay me 10k directly” when she was considering reporting the matter to the school. Tracy told USA TODAY that figure refers to the speaking fee that Michigan State didn’t pay her when Tucker canceled her planned July 2022 visit to the school.

Invoices included in the MSU investigation report show $10,000 is the speaking fee Michigan State paid her the first time she spoke to the team, in August 2021.

None of these matters came up during Thursday's hearing, Tracy said, as they had never been mentioned previously during the case. Under MSU policy, Tucker and Belveal will have the opportunity to ask for the messages to be admitted as new evidence on appeal if they decide to challenge the school's findings.

Kenny Jacoby is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY covering sexual harassment and violence and Title IX. Contact him by email at kjacoby@usatoday.com or follow him on X @kennyjacoby.