Former USU head coach Blake Anderson suing university for wrongful termination
Aug 21, 2024, 5:05 PM | Updated: 7:06 pm
Utah State University football coach Blake Anderson talks with a referee during a game in Logan on Friday Oct 1, 2021. Anderson has officially filed a lawsuit against Utah State University. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
LOGAN, Utah — Former Utah State University football head coach Blake Anderson plans to sue the university for what he calls an unexpected and wrongful termination.
USU fired Anderson in July, 2024, for allegedly violating Title IX university policy. That policy violation related to not reporting issues relating to sexual assault and domestic violence.
On Wednesday afternoon, Anderson announced a lawsuit against this firing via a press release from his attorneys, Bearnson and Caldwell. In the release, they listed two primary reasons for this lawsuit.
Firstly, the release says, Anderson’s employment contract falls under a category of employment that doesn’t allow him to file a grievance with USU contesting his termination.
“His next step is to file a formal lawsuit against USU,” the release said.
Secondly, Anderson’s attorneys say USU subjected him to “a public smear campaign.”
They claim that misinformation has been “publicly stated and released by USU… Coach Anderson herein states publicly and with certainty that he completely denies having engaged in any wrongdoing.”
Anderson’s attorney’s described him as a “husband, father, coach and leader,” who doesn’t condone any type of abuse. Along with that, they say he’s “always complied with Title IX.”
Utah State University responded to the lawsuit, saying “The university stands firm in its employment actions, and we are focused on building a respectful, transparent and reporting culture in the USU community.”
KSL NewsRadio may update this story with future developments.
