Beckie Francis, the women's basketball coach fired last summer by Oakland University, isn't done fighting with administrators there.
She's suing to see details of an investigation that led to her June dismissal, Chad Halcom reports for Crain's. The ex-coach's high-profile lawyer, Deborah Gordon of Bloomfield Hills, filed the lawsuit Friday in county court.
Beckie Francis "had a very impressive record as coach, and her performance reviews were positive," her lawyer says. (AP photo/Carlos Osorio)
Francis seeks an injunction compelling disclosure and an emergency hearing, Halcom writes.
"She just wants to know what's in her file, and what are they saying at the university about her," Gordon said. "She had a very impressive record as coach, and her performance reviews were positive, there's not a record of anything bad until the end, where they allegedly begin some investigation for wrongdoing. And they won't release the record of that review to her."
Francis, the wife of former OU President Gary Russi, was suspended pending further review on May 30 and later fired for cause on June 12, the same day that Russi announced his retirement after 18 years as president. . . .
The university . . . said it has already provided "substantial documentation."
An OU statement cites "the federally mandated protection of student privacy rights" as a reason for withholding some details of its review.
A July 24 campus advisory from Interim President Betty Youngblood has suggested that Francis' cause for termination is due to religious discrimination. Former students in the months since her termination have come forward to various media organizations with allegations that Francis attempted to proselytize students to Christianity or pressured women in the basketball squad to refrain from sexual relationships.
