KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The lawyer for six women suing the University of Tennessee on its handling of sexual assault complaints by student-athletes is focused on the school’s systemic problems he believes exist and is surprised at the attention the complaint’s brief mention of Peyton Manning generated.
“It’s certainly unanticipated,” attorney David Randolph Smith said.
Smith said he included events from the last two decades – one involved Manning in 1996 – to show how Tennessee has handled reports of misconduct.
“We included one small paragraph about the Manning situation in the complaint, just as part of the overall background and history,” Smith said. “… Peyton Manning is not a party to our lawsuit. All these reports that say he’s in the lawsuit, well he’s referenced, but it’s part of the historical” background.
The lawsuit that was filed last week in federal court in Nashville states Tennessee has violated Title IX regulations and created a “hostile sexual environment” through a policy of indifference toward assaults by student-athletes.