ESPN has dropped a legal bombshell on ‘Buckeye Nation’ in its effort to obtain documents linked to former Ohio State football head coach, Jim Tressel. ESPN filed suit against the University via the Ohio Supreme Court, as is reported by The Columbus Dispatch in the early morning hours of today.
The problem as ESPN sees it is that the University is attempting to ‘save face’ by shielding itself with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, otherwise known as FERPA. Under this Act, agencies, people and businesses outside educational systems are not allowed access to University documents in the name of privacy. ESPN’s lawyer, John Greiner, views FERPA as a mere ploy being played by Ohio State.
According to this aforementioned report, Greiner said in his filing against Ohio State that “FERPA has no application here, and this court should not permit it to be used in a manner that is equal parts cynical and hypocritical.”
Ohio State naturally disagrees with Greiner’s requests in the lawsuit. Notably, Ohio State believes his requests are too far-reaching. ESPN wants what would equate to potential boxes of documents if all requested material were to be printed onto paper.
Some of the things ESPN wants access to are multiple mediums of communication between Tressel and all Athletic Directors from 2007 until his retirement, including correspondence with compliance director, Doug Archie. ESPN also wants documents from investigations into Tressel, either prepared for or submitted to the NCAA regarding infractions he committed while on duty at Ohio State, and a myriad of other requests.
Now the ball is, figuratively speaking, in Ohio State’s court. They have 21 days to figure out how they want to respond to ESPN’s lawsuit. In recent light of NCAA infractions at Ohio State and a much-beloved head coach being pressured out, when it rains, it definitely pours in this case.