LAFAYETTE — In an hour-long press conference Thursday afternoon, lawyers for former University of Louisiana at Lafayette women’s softball coach Michael Lotief announced they filed a lawsuit earlier that day for what they called the wrongful termination of Lotief. 

The lawsuit, which was filed at noon Thursday in East Baton Rouge Parish, is against the University of Louisiana System and administrators of UL Lafayette, including President Joseph Savoie. 

The news conference was held by Lotief’s lawyers, Glenn Edwards and John E. McElligott Jr. 

Edwards said the lawsuit provides an extensive recitation of the facts surrounding Coach Lotief’s career and his ultimate termination, “and what we believe gives him grounds to pursue the university in litigation.”

Some of those claims included Lotief, who was fired one year ago, still not being able to retrieve his personal property from UL Lafayette.

“It’s been almost a year since he was put on administrative leave,” Edwards said. “He’s been locked out of the university for a year. They told him he can’t return to retrieve his property and they have dragged his feet for almost a year now to return the property.”

More generally, Edwards said Lotief’s termination as a coach was done as retaliation against him for constant complaints of gender equity on the ULL women’s softball team. 

“We’ve also made claims that his termination was wrongful and retaliatory for standing up for the rights of his female athletes,” Edward said. “He was a constant voice in the administration’s ear for gender equality for the girls, and we believe ultimately this was one of the primary reasons for his discharge.”

UL Lafayette responded to the news conference immediately. Shortly after the conference, a statement was issued from UL Lafayette responding to the suit by re-alleging that Lotief was dismissed for a “documented physical and verbal attack of a female coworker, and the use of sexually violent language toward and physical abuse of female student-athletes.”

The statement accused Lotief of creating a cult-like environment in which student-athletes were told at weekly “mind meetings” not to trust anyone outside of their inner circle, including their parents. It also alleged Lotief told student-athletes they could not share what they learned in the “mind meetings” because outsiders would not understand.

The statement also alleged Lotief repeatedly berated players with rape and sexual violence references.

Lotief, who had a reputation as a popular and successful softball coach, initiallywas placed on administrative leave on Oct. 6, 2017, when ULL issued a public statement at the time that alleged the same allegations they reaffirmed Thursday. 

Lotief has contested the claims ever since. McElligott said the suit outlines defamation charges that were levied against Lotief during that time frame, as well as Title IX violations and violations of the American Disability Act.

McElligott also said the suit mentions a history from ULLof not adhering to gender equity.

“We believe, quite frankly, what the university did and how they handled this situation suggests one thing only, there was a predetermined result, they were going to get rid of a man who constantly complained about gender equity issues,” McElligott said.