Michigan is once again embroiled in a scandal after a former assistant coach updated his earlier lawsuit against the university. Chris Partridge, who served as the linebackers coach under Jim Harbaugh, sued the Wolverines for wrongful termination. His allegations not only cover the sign-stealing scandal but also shed light on the alleged cover-up of Sherrone Moore’s affair with a staff member by officials, including AD Warde Manuel.

Partridge filed a lawsuit against the program, AD Warde Manuel, and the program’s Board of Regents for wrongful termination. Former Michigan president Santa Ono and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti are also listed in the lawsuit as defendants. The lawsuit, which was filed in March, was updated in June and contains over 20 pages.

The former Harbaugh assistant had a separate reason for filing his lawsuit, but he touched on the Moore scandal at a time when the case had just been reawakened following Shiver’s lawsuit. He alleged that AD Warde Manuel was aware of the inappropriate relationship between Moore and Shiver. According to the former Michigan assistant coach, “Manuel and other leaders allegedly knew about Moore’s relationship with a staff member “for years without taking action to protect the employee.”

Chris Partridge had quite a lengthy and storied stint with the Wolverines. He was first hired in 2015 as the director of player personnel before joining the on-field coaching staff as the linebackers and special teams coach. He left for Ole Miss in 2020 but returned in 2023, only to be fired amid Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal.

After the investigation, Partridge was cleared of wrongdoing by the NCAA and was not alleged to have been aware of the signal-stealing. But nothing was done about his firing, which was why he filed a lawsuit.

As he sues them for wrongful termination, Partridge claims the program used him as a “scapegoat” during the NCAA investigation and that there was an unfair silence from the program when allegations were circulating that he destroyed evidence relating to the sign-stealing investigation, despite knowing nothing about it.

Manuel’s name reappeared alongside Ono in the section addressing the Matt Weiss scandal, a staffer who was fired for the alleged invasion of the privacy of students. Partridge alleged that the pair never “reported the evidence of cheating found on Weiss’s computer, the law firm’s involvement, or the results of the investigation to the Board of Regents, the Compliance Services Office, or the NCAA … [and] failed to hold itself accountable for the ‘sign-stealing’ scheme, in violation of both its NCAA requirements,” the lawsuit states.

Paige Shiver’s lawsuit

Paige Shiver filed a lawsuit against the program, alleging it withheld public records requests related to its internal investigation. The suit was filed in Washtenaw County and alleged that the school violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act by denying multiple requests for documents related to the investigation of the Moore scandal, per The Associated Press. 

“This public university paid Jenner & Block $12 million to investigate the Sherrone Moore scandal and the abuse, Title IX and Title VII violations within the athletic department and Schembechler Hall, yet now refuses to release the investigation’s findings,” attorney Andrew M. Stroth said.