MORGANTOWN -
The Big East Conference has filed a notice of bona fide
defense in response to West Virginia University's lawsuit against it.
WVU's lawsuit was initially filed on Oct. 31 in an effort to
expedite the process of leaving the Big East and beginning participation in the
Big 12. The conference could respond to the lawsuit within 20 days or file a
notice of bona fide defense and reply within 30 days.
The Big East retained Simmerman Law Office, PLLC of
Clarksburg to represent it, and on Tuesday, a notice was filed stating that the
Big East will "answer or otherwise respond" to the complaint by Dec. 5.
Should the case go to court, it would be held at the
Monongalia County Circuit Court in Morgantown.
West Virginia's lawsuit claimed that the Big East and its
commissioner had done "nothing to protect the football playing schools and in
fact took measures to further protect and advance the interests of the
non-football playing schools."
The Big East, meanwhile, filed a countersuit that same week
in which it claimed that WVU should be held to a 27-month waiting period before
being allowed to play in the Big 12, a period the University is confident it
will not have to wait out.
WVU's lawsuits asks for a court injunction to either declare
the agreement between WVU and the Big East void or to count its payment of $2.5
million already received by the conference as a waiver for the time period.
Conference Commissioner John Marinatto responded to the
lawsuit at the time by saying he was "disappointed that West Virginia has adopted
this strategy and cannot imagine why it believes it does not have to respect
and honor the bylaws it agreed to as a member of the Big East."
West Virginia has not yet responded to the Big East's suit
against it.
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