Former Stanford head coach Troy Taylor is suing ESPN and the writer of the article that led to his dismissal from the school for defamation, according to a lengthy article on Wednesday in the Sacramento Bee.
Filed in the Northern District Court of California, Taylor has hired the Los Angeles-based litigation firm Cohen Williams, LLP, to argue not only that ESPN and writer Xuan Thai published false information about Taylor, but that it knowingly published false information with intent to damage Taylor's reputation.
"(ESPN) made, published, and repeated defamatory statements about Taylor, knowing full well that the statements were false, for the purpose of smearing Taylor's reputation and injuring him in profession," the lawsuit reads, according to the Bee.
Taylor argues that ESPN gave him only hours to respond to the claims within its March 19 article, which said Stanford had conducted multiple investigations into allegations that Taylor was a bully in the workplace, particularly in regard to women employees. Taylor was let go by Stanford on March 25.
Taylor released a statement in April denying the allegations and noting that Stanford fired him without cause, paying out the full balance of his contract, which lasted through 2030 following a 1-year extension despite his 3-9 debut season.
Months later, the Taylors still reside in the Bay Area, unsure what to do next and unsure that Taylor will coach again. "I'm in pain," Taylor told the Bee. "I'm struggling with this."