Anderson was fired for allegedly violating Title IX rules in relation to how he handled an alleged sexual assault by one of his players.

“The entirety of USU’s purported basis for terminating Coach Anderson ‘for cause’ can be boiled down to one, single incident involving a football player’s arrest on April 5, 2023, for an incident that was alleged to have occurred off campus at the player’s apartment,” said the lawsuit. “The alleged incident involved the player and the mother of the player’s child who, at the time of the incident, was not even a student at USU.”

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination against all genders in educational institutions. Schools are required to ensure that campuses are free of sex discrimination and have an established procedure for handling complaints.

Anderson’s contract was terminated in July “for actions taken in spring 2023” that “violated both his employment agreement and university policy,” according to a statement released by the school at the time.

The lawsuit claims Anderson was unaware of the arrest and he thought the player’s child had a medical emergency, and he claims his conversation with the player in 2023 were about the player entering the transfer portal.

Anderson claims in the lawsuit that when he heard rumors of the player’s arrest, he confronted the player who ultimately admitted that he was arrested. The lawsuit said after Anderson confronted the player, he began making reports to then Interim Athletic Director Jerry Bovee. Bovee said he would file a report with the university’s Office of Equity.

Anderson claims the OOE only began an investigation into the incident after the university was looking for a way to fire Anderson. Bovee was also terminated from the university.

Last September, the United States Justice Department released its own report about the alleged Title IX violations that had occurred.

Utah State University was issued a “notice of noncompliance” of Title IX laws by the United States Department of Justice and of failing to improve an “ongoing hostile environment” within its football program.

The report mainly criticized USU’s coach and other athletic officials alleged mishandling of reporting of sexual misconduct allegations and criminal charges under Title IX.

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