ESPN report sheds light on ex-Penn State player’s lawsuit vs. James Franklin, university

ESPN obtained a draft report from the 2019 Title IX investigation that was launched to look into “sexual assault allegations in the Penn State locker room.”

The story, which posted Friday morning, focuses on accusations and claims made by former Nittany Lion Isaiah Humphries, who sued the school, football coach James Franklin and fellow ex-Lion Damion Barber earlier this year.

Humphries, who transferred to Cal, alleged in a civil suit he was a victim of harassment, negligence and other things while with the Penn State program and that no one did anything to stop it. He is seeking unspecified damages.

Much of the ESPN story covers details previously reported by PennLive from court filings, but the one new bit of information, according to the draft report the outlet reviewed, focuses on an interaction between Franklin and Humphries after a fight between the latter and former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons.

Per ESPN, which also included a response from Penn State:

“Humphries told investigators that, after his fight with linebacker Micah Parsons in March 2018, he met with Franklin in the coach’s car outside the Lasch football building, according to the report. The investigator wrote: “Mr. Humphries added that Coach Franklin came and said, ‘Don’t talk to the police because Micah is his start (sic) player and makes money, so if he gets in trouble, he’s gone,’ meaning Mr. Humphries would be gone.”

In a statement to ESPN, a university spokesperson said “Franklin has made it clear that he did not instruct Mr. Humphries to avoid contacting authorities.”

“We believe the claims relating to Coach Franklin have no merit, and we will continue to defend him vigorously,” the statement said.”

The latest court filings in the case came from the defendants Nov. 13, when they again asked for the case to be dismissed in response to an amended complaint Humphries filed in October. It’s unclear when Judge Matthew Brann will issue a ruling on that request.

“This Court has generously allowed Humphries leniency in trying to pin down a theory of his case and plead facts that may support it, but he has failed to do so four times,” attorney Matthew Kairis writes in a court filing seeking the dismissal.

“At some point, this case must end, at least as it involves the University Defendants — and that time is now. For the reasons noted above and discussed in more detail below, the University Defendants request that this Court dismiss with prejudice Humphries’ claims arising under Title IX (Count I); negligence per se (Count II), negligence (Counts VI and V), and NIED (Count VIII).”