Former Baylor coach Art Briles has been dismissed as a defendant in a Title IX suit against Baylor, though his involvement with the plaintiff in the suit may not be over.


Briles, along with former Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw, was named as a defendant in a suit filed by Jasmin Hernandez, a woman who was raped by former Baylor football player Tevin Elliott. Hernandez alleged that the school, along with McCaw and Briles, was indifferent to her claims of sexual assault.


From the AP:


The men had been named in Jasmin Hernandez’s lawsuit against Bayor as co-defendants in their ”official capacity.” But Briles’ lawyers argued both men could not be sued in their official role under the Title IX federal gender discrimination law cited in the lawsuit.
Hernandez’s lawyer, Alex Zalkin, said he agreed and would file new lawsuits against both Briles and McCaw in state court as individuals. The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify sexual assault victims, but Hernandez has spoken publicly to draw attention to the case.
Wednesday’s ruling ”shifts the ball to a new court” but won’t stop Hernandez from trying to hold both men accountable, Zalkin said.
Hernandez’s attorney said that Briles skipped a mediation meeting with the woman over the summer, backing out of a pledge to apologize and support her. Elliott is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence regarding the rape charges.


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Briles told Outside the Lines in September that he would have “loved” to meet with Hernandez but couldn’t.


“Well, I would have loved to have done that, I would have loved to have been able to make that meeting but through Baylor and the settlements that were involved, I was not able to attend due to that,” Briles said in the TV interview. “I would have loved to have a chance to tell her how sorry I was that she got victimized.”


Briles did not rule out a future meeting with Hernandez in his ESPN interview, though Hernandez told OTL that she didn’t believe the former coach was being sincere.




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