Report: Ex-Baylor staffer requests Pepper Hamilton report release

A former Baylor employee fired in the wake of the Pepper Hamilton report has reportedly requested the school make the report public via a court order.

According to ESPN, Thomas Hill has filed a petition in Dallas County, Texas, to request Baylor’s board of regents “to turn over materials related to Hill’s firing, including the Pepper Hamilton report, and to allow him to depose various regents.”

Hill was one of two Baylor staffers filed in May as the athletic department was in significant upheaval following the release of a summary of the report, which detailed the recklessness with which the Baylor athletic department handled accusations of sexual assault. He claims he was fired without explanation and wants to know why he was terminated.

“I think what’s really important about the filing is we’re going to be seeking depositions and evidence from the board of regents, including work from Pepper Hamilton,” Hill’s laywer Rogge Dunn told ESPN. “It’s a way to get to the evidence quickly, rather than from the other cases that are moving slowly.”

Hill was an associate athletic director with the school. He was fired along with Colin Shillinglaw.

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“While not to the same degree as the courageous women who were victimized in this dark time in Baylor’s history, Hill is yet another – and unnecessary – victim of this controversy,” his petition reads, per ESPN.

Hill’s request also brings the existence of a written report from the Pepper Hamilton law firm back into question. When the school released the report’s findings, the public version came in the form of a 13-page summary. As others, namely the Big 12 and Baylor’s alumni assocation, have called for the release of the full report, Baylor has cited privacy reasons and that the full Pepper Hamilton report was an oral report.

While those previous requests were certainly noble and justified, Hill’s may have more weight because it comes through the court system.

The school suspended and ultimately fired coach Art Briles after the summary’s release while athletic director Ian McCaw and president and chancellor Ken Starr resigned. Baylor made a presentation to the rest of the Big 12 during media days last week detailing what it’s doing in the aftermath of the scandal and will not be sanctioned by the conference.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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