Former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary is filing a whistleblower lawsuit against Penn State University, as was first reported by the Centre Daily Times. WJAC TV in Johnstown, Pa. reports that court documents indicate that McQueary will be seeking "monetary damages outside of arbitration limits for an employment dispute."
As the trials stemming from the Penn State sexual abuse scandal approach, McQueary is increasingly the focus of defense lawyers for former Penn State defensive coach Jerry Sandusky -- who faces more than 50 counts of sexual abuse against 10 young boys -- as well as the defense counsel for two former PSU administrators facing charges of lying to a grand jury and failing to report the abuse.
These reports of McQueary's impending lawsuit against Penn State come on the heels of the news that the attorney general's office has revised the dates of the alleged incident witnessed by the former wider receivers coach, who was placed on administrative leave several months ago. According to the Associated Press, the latest court filing states the alleged attack that McQueary testified to witnessing in a shower at the Penn State football facilities occurred on Feb. 9, 2001 and not March 2, 2002 as the original grand jury report indicated.
McQueary has offered graphic testimony to a grand jury and at a pre-trial hearing for Curley and Schultz stating that he witnessed a sexual assault by Sandusky against a child in a shower on campus. In the early stage of the scandal, McQueary was placed on administrative leave after receiving death threats. He has no listed position on the staff of Joe Paterno's successor, Bill O'Brien.
Curley and Schultz have steadfastly maintained their innocence and previously testified that McQueary did not relay the seriousness of what he saw -- and later testified about -- to them. Upon learning of the revised date, the lawyers for Curley and Schultz issued a statement that suggested possible doubts about McQueary's credibility.
"Now, it is clear that Mike McQueary was wrong in so adamantly insisting that the incident happened the Friday before Spring Break in 2002," said the statement issued to the Associated Press and other news outlets. "Whether or not Mr. McQueary's insistence was the result of faulty memory, or questionable credibility, there is no dispute that the statute of limitations has expired on (the failure to report charge), and it will be dismissed."