A communications firm hired by former Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach to investigate the details of his firing in 2009 has announced its plans to sue the university for withholding public records, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Wayne Dolcefino, president of Houston-based Dolcefino Consulting, has accused Texas Tech of withholding documentation of communications regarding Leach’s contested dismissal, including emails and phone records, as well as confirmation of expenditures.
In a release, Dolcefino’s attorney, Julie Pettit of The Pettit Law Firm, stated, “The public — including students, alumni, and taxpaying citizens — have a legal right to see the emails and investigative notes surrounding Coach Leach’s improper termination.”
Leach was fired by Texas Tech under allegations of mistreating a concussed player. Leach later sued for wrongful termination, claiming that an expected $800,000 bonus due the day after his dismissal was the real reason for his termination.
A series of appeals brought the original case to the Texas Supreme Court in 2015, where appeals on both sides were denied. Leach can now seek a ruling to show that the university denied him due process at the time of his firing.
Said Dolcefino, “A law that gives a public school the right to just cheat a coach or a company out of money they are owed is beneath Texas. Regardless, it is time for the secrecy in Lubbock to end. What are they afraid the public will see?”
