Lacrosse: Duke appeals ruling in ex-coach's slander lawsuit
Associated Press
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University has appealed a judge's ruling that allows former men's lacrosse coach Mike Pressler to pursue a slander lawsuit against the school and its former spokesman.
The university argues that Superior Court Judge Howard Manning erred in April when he nullified a confidential settlement between Pressler and Duke. The settlement came after Pressler was fired following a stripper's false accusations that three players raped her.
Pressler's lawsuit said Duke violated the settlement when former spokesman John Burness twice made disparaging comments about Pressler to the media. But attorneys for Duke said federal law allows such disputes to be handled in arbitration and asked the state Court of Appeals to reverse Manning's ruling, The Herald-Sun of Durham reported Tuesday.
Appeals cases in North Carolina often take a year to resolve.
Pressler accepted a financial settlement when he was ousted in 2006. The deal was revised several times before both sides agreed to keep terms confidential and to avoid making disparaging or defamatory comments about each other.
The lawsuit cites a New York newspaper that quoted Burness in April 2007 as saying coaches are responsible for team behavior and saying the difference between Pressler and his successor was "night and day."
Pressler lost his job several weeks after the March 2006 lacrosse team party where a woman hired to perform as a stripper falsely accused three players of rape. All charges were later dropped, and the three players were exonerated and declared innocent by state prosecutors.
Pressler was the only school official who lost a job as a result of the case, even though the university's internal investigation determined he was the only school employee who took significant action when lacrosse players were accused of wrongdoing, such as disorderly conduct and public urination.
Pressler now coaches lacrosse at Bryant University in Rhode Island. He also wrote a book about the Duke lacrosse case.
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Information from: The Herald-Sun, http://www.herald-sun.com
