Where’s Tucker? Former MSU coach’s disappearance holding up lawsuit, plaintiff claims
Former Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker can’t be found, and that’s holding up a lawsuit filed against him.
First reported by The State News, The Detroit News confirmed that nearly six months after Brenda Tracy filed a defamation suit against Tucker, Tracy’s attorney, Karen Truszkowski, claims that Tucker cannot be located after multiple attempts to serve the lawsuit. Truszkowski is now asking for alternate service in an Ingham County Court.
In order for a case to proceed, the defendant must be served with a lawsuit, which involves signing a summons to appear in court. This ensures they know that they are being sued and are aware of what the suit entails.
In October 2023, just short of a month after firing Tucker, a Michigan State investigation found that Tucker had sexually harassed Tracy while she worked with his football team. Tracy is a rape survivor and activist who speaks with college athletics teams about sexual assault. In December 2022, she filed a complaint with MSU against Tucker that accused him of making sexual comments and masturbating without her consent during an April 2022 phone call. Tucker claimed their relationship, and the phone call, were both consensual.
Tracy’s October 2024 suit alleges that Tucker defamed her by calling their relationship consensual, and that he breached a contract by cancelling her appearance to speak with his team. She also claims that the scandal caused her to lose other contracts.
According to court filings, Truszkowski has attempted to serve Tucker via certified mail at all of his known addresses, including an East Lansing home he still owns. Every letter returned undeliverable without a forwarding address.
That same home is where a process server attempted to serve Tucker. Instead, the server found that it was occupied by Tucker’s ex-wife and her mother. According to an affidavit of non-service filed in February, Tucker hasn’t lived at that house since he and his wife divorced more than a year ago. The server claimed that a UPS driver delivering to the address said Tucker no longer lives at the address.
Tucker’s own attorneys would not accept service on behalf of their client, either, and that leaves this case at a standstill. He is, however, aware of the case, as he referenced it in a lawsuit against Michigan State University regarding his termination.
Tracy and Truszkowski can continue the lawsuit through alternate service, which can include actions such as mailing the case to Tucker’s last known address, tacking it to the door of Tucker’s last known address, publishing it in a legal magazine or any other action the court deems appropriate. Failure to respond to these methods of alternate service results in a default judgment in the plaintiff’s favor.
The Detroit News attempted to reach Tucker’s legal team, but did not receive a response in more than 24 hours.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Where’s Tucker? Former MSU coach’s disappearance holding up lawsuit, plaintiff claims
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