Former USC assistant football coach Todd McNair’s long-running defamation lawsuit against the NCAA is on hold once again.
California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal paused the case Monday after McNair’s attorneys contested the removal of the Los Angeles Superior Court judge overseeing it.
The NCAA moved in May to disqualify Judge Frederick Shaller. In a court filing that included citations of message board postings, the NCAA said the “public perceives potential judicial bias” because Shaller graduated from USC.
The court granted the request for a different reason days later, saying the NCAA “had the right to challenge the continued participation of the trial judge … without showing any good cause” because the appellate court last year reversed a portion of a ruling by Shaller in the case.