Attorneys for Mel Tucker, Brenda Tracy agree on matter of cellphone messages
Matt MencariniMASON — Attorneys for former Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker and Brenda Tracy, the woman who the university has determined he sexually harassed, agreed Thursday to an order limiting what information from a cellphone could be released.
Both sides had submitted filings to the court on their positions in advance of Thursday's hearing, but when it began, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said the parties had reached a stipulated agreement.
Aquilina was filling in for Judge Wanda Stokes, who earlier this month granted an emergency order to bar the release of additional text messages between Tracy and her friend Ahlan Alvarado, who has since died.
Stokes is the presiding judge for the case. Aquilina explained her presence by saying only that Stokes could not attend the hearing, which Stokes scheduled last week, and that the two judges had "discussed this case at length and what would be her decision had she been seated here today."
But as it turned out, there was little for Aquilina to rule on, aside from ensuring the stipulated order was properly agreed.
Tracy attended Thursday's hearing. Tucker did not, nor was he required to. In a statement released on Thursday, Tucker's agent referenced a medical condition that prevented him from attending a hearing earlier this month in the sexual harassment proceeding.
Tracy, her attorneys and the attorneys who represented Tucker and others declined to comment.
On Oct. 5, the day of a key hearing in the sexual harassment case, Tucker's legal team released pages of text messages between Tracy and Alvarado. Tucker's attorneys say the messages show Tracy had a personal relationship with Tucker that was consensual.
Tracy sought a court order preventing Tucker's team from releasing additional messages, arguing further releases would include sensitive or confidential matters that could cause irreparable harm. Alvarado was not only Tracy's friend of two decades, but she also worked as her booking assistant for her nonprofit, Set The Expectation. Their private discussions "involve highly sensitive information regarding other survivors and their families," Tracy said in an affidavit filed with her motion for the restraining order.
Tucker's attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to move the matter to federal court, but on Oct. 19 the case was sent back to Stokes' courtroom.
In their filings leading up to Thursday's hearing, Tucker's attorneys summarized their position in three points. The first is that Agustin Alvarado, Ahlan Alvarado's husband, is representative of her estate and therefore owns the phone. The second claim is that arguments from Tracy's attorneys are legally deficient and aren't likely to succeed on their merits.
Third, Tucker's attorneys said there was no medical history or identifiable information of sexual assault survivors on the phone. And they proposed a protective order that would bar the release of any information on the phone that might include such sensitive information.
The stipulated order entered on Thursday, prevents the release of health information about sexual assault, harassment or gender discrimination victims, to the extent it exists, on the phone.
More:Personal text messages in Mel Tucker harassment case called largely irrelevant by experts
The order also bars the release of information that would identify sex assault survivors or the identities of people who may have had a romantic or sexual relationship with either Tracy or Tucker.
Additional measures in the order relate to the destruction of materials in certain email or DropBox accounts on the phone but includes a provision that Tracy preserve such information as possible evidence.
More:The post-Mel Tucker era at Michigan State has begun. Experts say ugly, expensive litigation likely
Finally, the order indicates that "any data images of the phone" will be destroyed and no additional text messages between Tracy and Alvarado will be disclosed unless ordered by the court.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for February.
The legal fight over text messages began about a month after USA Today published a story detailing a long-running sexual harassment investigation of Tucker by the university. The university suspended him without pay the same day the story was published and, on Sept. 27, fired him for cause.
Tucker — who denies any wrongdoing and said he and Tracy had a consensual, intimate relationship — has taken steps to file a lawsuit over his termination. According to his contract, signed in 2021, he was owed about $80 million in guaranteed money when he was fired.
On Wednesday, the MSU hearing officer hired to adjudicate the sexual harassment proceeding issued a 73-page report that found Tucker responsible for violating the school's sexual harassment policy. He has 10 business days to file an appeal.
USA Today reporter Kenny Jacoby contributed to this story.
Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at 517-377-1026 or mjmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @MattMencarini.