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Curtis Blackwell's lawsuit dismissed against Mark Dantonio, Lou Anna Simon, Mark Hollis

GRAND RAPIDS – An ex-Michigan State University football staffer's claims against now-retired head coach Mark Dantonio and other retired top university officials were dismissed Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Janet Neff dismissed Curtis Blackwell II's allegations that he was wrongly terminated because he declined to speak to detectives during an investigation into a possible sexual assault committed by football players in 2017.

Neff agreed with another judge's recommendations that Blackwell's attorneys used the court's processes to "harangue the MSU Defendants into exhausted compliance in the form of settlement."

The judge also dismissed Blackwell's claims against former MSU president Lou Anna Simon and former athletic director Mark Hollis.