Fired MSU Coach Tests Employer Power to Jettison PR Liabilities

Fired Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker’s fight to keep his $80 million payout confronts a contract trend in which brand-conscious employers have increasingly wielded contracts to unload high-dollar liabilities.

Last week Tucker reached a deal allowing him to use his alleged sexual harassment accuser’s private text messages in forthcoming legal battles over his firing.

With limits, Tucker can use texts between harassment consultant Brenda Tracy and her deceased best-friend, under the terms of a stipulated protective order reached in a state court Oct. 26. Tucker is seeking to use the texts, in which Tracy discusses her personal relationship ...