Scott Lynch, MD, sued the university in 2019 and alleged he was was removed from his positions as director of athletic medicine and a team orthopedic surgeon in retaliation for raising concerns that football head coach James Franklin interfered with the team physicians’ decisionmaking.
But a judge declared mistrial March 11 after a defense attorney said Mr. Franklin and Penn State Athletics were dropped from the lawsuit. Dr. Lynch’s lawyer raised an objection. After a closed-door meeting the judge said they were dismissed from the lawsuit in 2020 over a filing deadline issue, not the merits of the case. The judge went on to rule that the mentioning of the dismissal prejudiced the jury.
