KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Pat Summitt said in an affidavit that she initially felt she was being forced to step down as the Lady Vols’ basketball coach by Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart, who later told Summitt that she had misinterpreted his comments.
The signed affidavit was part of a lawsuit filed against the University of Tennessee by former Lady Vols media director Debby Jennings. In it, Summitt said Hart told her at a March 14 meeting prior to the NCAA tournament that she would have to step down at the end of the season. Summitt had revealed before the season that she was battling early-onset dementia.
“This was very surprising to me and very hurtful, as that was a decision I would have liked to have made on my own at the end of the season after consulting with my doctors, colleagues and friends and not be told this by Mr. Hart,” Summitt said in the affidavit. “I felt this was wrong.”
Summitt went on to say in the affidavit that Hart later told her that she had misinterpreted what he had said. The affidavit is included in an amended complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Jennings’ lawsuit alleges that age and sex discrimination led to her forced retirement from the school where she had worked for 35 years.
Tennessee officials had no immediate response to the amended complaint. Summitt’s son, Tyler Summitt, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press Wednesday that, “We are not going to comment right now on this matter.”