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A U.S. District Court docket decide dismissed an Ole Miss participant’s lawsuit towards head coach Lane Kiffin.
In line with court docket paperwork, by way of ESPN’s Chris Low, Decide Michael P. Mills dismissed a lawsuit filed by DeSanto Rollins. The defensive lineman accused Kiffin of discrimination when kicking him off the staff after lacking conferences throughout a “psychological well being disaster.”
Rollins has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court docket of Appeals
Fast replace to this: Final evening, Rollins’ authorized staff filed discover that they plan to enchantment the dismissal. https://t.co/VzKm4AngZO
— Michael Katz (@MichaelLKatz) February 1, 2024
Rollins, who remains to be listed on the staff’s official roster, was searching for $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages. His lawsuit claimed Ole Miss didn’t take the identical actions towards white or feminine student-athletes who requested a psychological well being break.
The lawsuit alleged Kiffin “maliciously, intentionally, deliberately, and in blatant disregard for the rights and well being of Rollins verbally assaulted him” in a February assembly. Rollins recorded a later assembly with Kiffin, who needed to talk with Rollins two weeks earlier.
“You are executed. See ya. Go. And guess what? We are able to kick you off the staff,” Kiffin instructed Rollins. “So go learn your f—ing rights about psychological well being. We are able to kick you off the staff for not displaying up.”
Mills dominated that Rollins “made no displaying of discriminatory intent” from Kiffin within the case and mentioned whether or not Rollins re-joined the staff was “solely his personal” resolution.
“Though Kiffin’s conduct within the conferences was actually offensive and imprudent, it’s extra akin to immature insults and indignities than to habits going ‘past all attainable bounds of decency,'” Mills wrote.