Art Briles, Baylor File Motions to Dismiss Title IX Lawsuit: Comments, Reaction

Baylor University and Art Briles filed motions this week to dismiss a pending Title IX lawsuit stemming from the school's sexual assault scandal.

Cassie L. Smith of the Waco Tribune-Herald reported Friday that Baylor is seeking to end the lawsuit on the grounds of statute of limitations and because it's not liable for off-campus incidents. The motion from Briles, the school's former head football coach, argued an individual employee can't be sued under the Title IX designation.

It's the second time Baylor and Briles have sought to dismiss the case. Former student Jasmin Hernandez amended her lawsuit in July, which led to the latest actions.

"You cannot act with unclean hands and then raise the statute of limitations," said Irwin Zalkin, one of Hernandez's lawyers.

Paula Ann Solis of the Baylor Lariat reported in 2014 that former Bears football player Tevin Elliott was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping Hernandez in 2012. Testimony during the trial explored alleged assaults by Elliott dating back to 2009.

The Elliott case was one of several problems to arise at Baylor in recent years. Laken Litman and Steven Ruiz of USA Today provided a complete breakdown of the issues, including multiple allegations of abuse and concern about the university's lack of response.

In May, the school announced a series of leadership changes in the wake of the scandal. The board of regents' decisions included the removal of Ken Starr as president and suspending Briles "indefinitely with intent to terminate." The sides later "mutually agreed to part ways," according to the Associated Press.

While both Baylor and Briles are part of the Title IX lawsuit, they are also at odds with each other. The former head coach said he was wrongfully terminated in June and that he wanted different representation than the school, per Jim Vertuno of the AP.

"The conclusion is inescapable that the motive of Baylor and the board of regents was to use its head football coach and the Baylor athletic department as a camouflage to disguise and distract from its own institutional failure to comply," Briles' lawyer, Ernest Cannon, wrote to the school's attorneys.

No timetable was announced for a court decision on the efforts by Baylor and Briles to dismiss the Title IX lawsuit.