Penn State Wants Mike McQueary Lawsuit Tossed

Penn State is asking a judge to end the whistleblower lawsuit by Mike McQueary, the former assistant football coach who became infamous as the witness who saw Jerry Sandusky having sex with a young boy in university facilities. McQueary lost his job—and so, you’ll remember, did revered head coach Joe Paterno, who died not long thereafter—and sued the university, saying he’d been fired because he told the truth.

The university made a court filing Tuesday that says Mike McQueary’s lawsuit is too vague and doesn’t meet legal standards to support claims of defamation and misrepresentation.

The school’s lawyers say it’s not enough for McQueary to have been embarrassed or annoyed. The filing says he also has to show he suffered harm that “has grievously fractured his standing in respectable community.”

McQueary’s standing in respectable community does seem pretty low. The question, really: Is that warranted or unwarranted? [AP]