NCAA Files New Court Documents in Paterno Suit

The NCCA filed new court documents today attacking the Paterno family’s lawsuit.

The NCAA says the plaintiff’s argument that they should be allowed to challenge the NCAA sanctions against Penn State is not a valid legal argument.

“Plaintiffs are not third-party beneficiaries to the Bylaws, and in any event have no standing to seek relief in the form of voiding the Consent Decree,” says the NCAA’s filing.

The NCAA argues that Penn State is an indispensable party, meaning that only the university has legal standing to file a lawsuit.

“‘Plaintiffs’ argument hinges on the false premise that the NCAA was not actually authorized to impose any penalty on Penn State,” the NCAA argues in the documents. “But it is Penn State — not Plaintiffs — that would have to challenge the NCAA’s authority in this regard.”

Penn State has said it will not be a party to any lawsuit against the NCAA.

The NCAA also argues that the plaintiffs have not stated a claim of defamation and that the complaint of malice against the NCAA is not adequately argued, so the suit should be thrown out. 

The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in May asking the courts to throw out the NCAA’s sanctions on the grounds that, when the NCAA imposed the sanctions, it breached its contract with Penn State.

The plaintiff’s are suing the NCAA, NCAA President Mark Emmert and former Chairman of the NCAA Executive Committee Ed Ray.

The case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at Centre County Court in Bellefonte on October 29.

Besides the Paterno family the plaintiffs include five Penn State trustees; Ryan McCombie, Anthony Lubrano, Al Clemens, Peter Khoury and Adam Taliaferro, four Penn State faculty members and several former Penn State football players.

On July 23, 2012, the NCAA slapped Penn State with harsh sanctions in the wake of the Sandusky scandal. The sanctions included a $60 million fine, a four-year postseason football ban, all wins vacated under former football coach Joe Paterno between 1998-2011 and a significant loss of football scholarships.

In a turnaround, earlier this week, the NCAA announced it would gradually increase football scholarships over the next three years.