Sherrone Moore’s former executive assistant and mistress is suing the University of Michigan, four months after she quietly left her position in the athletics department.
On Wednesday, Paige Shiver and her attorneys filed a lawsuit – which has been viewed by the Daily Mail – in a Washtenaw County court, arguing that the school is willfully withholding records relating to a $12 million investigation into the scandal.
In the suit, Shiver – who is seeking requested records and punitive damages – claims the school violated the Freedom of Information Act by denying requests made on her behalf after the football coach was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with her.
‘It was important for our client to file this initial FOIA lawsuit to ensure the truth and facts come out,’ attorney Andrew M. Stroth said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
School spokesman Paul Corliss declined comment.
Moore was fired in December after leading the Wolverines for two seasons following Jim Harbaugh’s move to the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.
Paige Shiver is pictured alongside Sherrone Moore while she worked as his executive assistant
Shiver has now launched a lawsuit of her own against the University of Michigan, seeking requested records and punitive damages
He was accused of confronting Shiver, with whom he had been having an affair, and blaming her for his firing. Authorities said she had previously ended the affair and spoken to school officials about it.
Moore pleaded no contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecom device and was placed on probation in April for 18 months.
Shiver did not attend the hearing and released a statement saying the sentence ‘does not reflect the harm done to me.’
The plea deal came after attorney Ellen Michaels planned to aggressively challenge how police gathered and shared information to get an arrest warrant. She argued that police didn’t disclose that Moore and Shiver had a working relationship that involved calls and text messages.
Attorney Julie Murphy sent the university a series of FOIA requests, including the investigative file related to Moore’s firing, from February to June and each was denied by the school.
‘This public university paid Jenner & Block $12 million to investigate the Sherrone Moore scandal and the abuse, Title IX and Title VII violations within the athletic department and Schembechler Hall, yet now refuses to release the investigation’s findings,’ Stroth said.
Moore, pictured in court with his wife Kelli, was fired by the Michigan Wolverines in December
Shiver and her legal team claim school officials are ‘arbitrarily and capriciously’ breaking the law by not providing the records related to Jenner & Block’s investigation.
‘The lawsuit filed today demands transparency and accountability from the University of Michigan, President Grasso and the Board of Regents,’ Stroth added in his statement on Shiver’s behalf.
In the suit, Shiver claims that during her employment at the school, she was ‘discriminated against and subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of her sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Michigan law including Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act.’
The legal action looks set to spark the next lengthy and expensive controversy for the embattled school, which is still reeling from Moore’s very public scandal.
