Judge: Spanier Can Proceed With Freeh Report Defamation Lawsuit

It had been all quiet on the Spanier front until a judge lifted a stay on the former Penn State president’s defamation lawsuit against Louis Freeh and his firm.

This means that Graham Spanier’s lawsuit will continue thanks to the opinion by Centre County Court of Common Pleas senior judge Robert Eby.

However, Eby did offer a mixed ruling for Spanier when it came to his motion to add defendants to the lawsuit. Spanier had asked the court to add Penn State and Freeh Group International Solutions (FGIS) as defendants in the defamation suit.

Eby only ruled in favor of the addition of FGIS, but denied Spanier’s request to sue Penn State. It stands to reason that he accepted the opposition’s argument that Penn State can’t be blamed for defamation when it simply commissioned the Freeh Report, but wasn’t involved in the actual research and writing of it.

The suit, which was first filed in July 2013, had essentially been in a holding pattern for two years before the judge’s ruling on Monday.

Spanier is alleging that the report spearheaded by former FBI director Louis Freeh is defamatory, as the conclusion that the former Penn State president was involved in a coverup of Jerry Sandusky’s child sexual abuse isn’t backed up by the evidence.

Spanier and his representation were not available for comment on the ruling, nor were Freeh and his representatives.