LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The woman accusing suspended MSU football head coach Mel Tucker of sexual harassment has released a new statement through her lawyer defending why she made her claims and name public.

Brenda Tracy, a university contractor, educator and rape survivor filed a complaint against Tucker with the university in December 2022. According to her complaint, USA Today wrote that Tracy sat frozen on a phone call with Tucker for several minutes while he made sexual comments about her and masturbated. Tracy told the newspaper the incident had triggered memories from her 1998 rape by four men, two of which were Oregon State University football players.

Below is the statement from Brenda Tracy through her legal counsel:

An outside party disclosed Brenda Tracy’s identity to local media, which led to the USA Today story.

Brenda Tracy had no intention of publicly disclosing her identity. She was and continues to be
committed to complying with and concluding the MSU internal investigative process. She respected the process and chose not to go to the media to preserve the integrity of the process.

After the investigation process was completed, we would have determined, what, if any further steps to take. Instead, her identity was disclosed without her knowledge or consent, warranting express actions to protect her. Her choice to allow this process to proceed privately was taken away.

Let me be patently clear: Brenda Tracy had no intention of disclosing anything publicly until someone else violated her right to confidentiality.

Karen Truszkowski, Attorney for Brenda Tracy