Leavitt sues South Florida

After weeks of veiled threats and innuendo, Jim Leavitt has filed a lawsuit against his former employer South Florida.

Leavitt was fired in early January following an investigation into allegations that the then-head coach had grabbed walk-on Justin Miller by the throat and slapped him a couple of times during halftime of a November game.

Leavitt has steadfastly denied the allegations; Miller initially denied that Leavitt had been physical with him before ultimately changing his tune.

The suit is aimed at both clearing Leavitt’s name and recouping the $7 million-plus contractually owed to the former coach.

From the Tampa Tribune:

In a statement released Monday by Wil Florin, Leavitt’s attorney, the suit claims that USF “illegally fired Coach Leavitt through a termination process ignited by hearsay allegations. USF publicly stated that Coach Leavitt’s termination was based on a ‘fair,’ ‘thorough’ and ‘professional’ process. To the contrary, the process was biased, flawed and legally unsupportable.”

The statement adds that “USF publicly announced that ‘no credible witnesses’ supported Coach Leavitt’s account. This announcement was made despite USF’s actual knowledge that Coach Leavitt’s account was supported by law enforcement, a coach and several players. The USF assertion is insulting to those very credible eyewitnesses.”

Florin says that USF “has repeatedly refused to provide copies of any witness statements given during the review process. In doing so, USF violated the written contract terms as well as the Public Records Laws of the State of Florida and the Florida Constitution. In refusing disclosure, USF is either hiding evidence favorable to Coach Leavitt or has destroyed that evidence to avoid being confronted with it.”