Penn State Trustee Withdraws From Paterno Family Lawsuit

By

StateCollege.com Staff

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September 30, 2013 – 4:20 pm

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Penn State Trustee Peter Khoury has filed legal documents, removing himself as a plaintiff in the Paterno family’s lawsuit against the NCAA. Khoury, who is a Penn State student, was appointed to the board by Gov. Tom Corbett.

Last month, published reports suggested that other board members pressured Khoury to remove himself from the lawsuit. Khoury was one of five trustees listed as plaintiffs. The others are Ryan McCombie, Adam Taliaferro, Anthony Lubrano and Alvin Clemens.

The trustees still listed as plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Khoury’s decision to drop out.

In August, Penn State officials said the involvement of the trustees in the lawsuit was a conflict of interest. University spokesman David La Torre said that both the board of trustees leadership and the legal subcommittee expressed concern about trustees taking part in the lawsuit.

At the time, La Torre said, “The trustees allege that they are suing as members of the Board of Trustees, which both exceeds their authority as trustees and conflicts with the University’s position and interests.” La Torre also said, “The complaint itself contains numerous allegations and claims that do not represent positions that the University has taken and conflict with the University’s position and interests.”

Khoury is part of a committee that’s searching for a new university president. La Torre said Khoury’s involvement in litigation would have required Khoury to recuse himself from “significant” parts of the deliberations and candidate interviews. Today, La Torre said the university has no further comment on the matter.

Late Monday afternoon, Khoury told StateCollege.com, “I decided to come off of the lawsuit in order to remain a member of the trustee selection committee for the next President of Penn State. I believe that having a student perspective in these discussions and decisions is very important.”

In addition to the board members and members of the Paterno family, several Penn State faculty members and former Penn State football players have also joined the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs want the NCAA’s sanctions against Penn State withdrawn. They are suing the NCAA, NCAA President Mark Emmert and former NCAA Executive Committee Chairman Ed Ray for breach of contact, intentional interference with contractual relations, civil conspiracy, defamation and commercial disparagement.

A hearing in the case is scheduled to be held in Centre County Court in late October.