Judge weighs Michigan lawsuit vs. Big Ten amid sign-stealing scandal, argument and counterargument

A major crossroads regarding Michigan‘s sign-stealing scandal lies ahead as the program has responded to a notice of discipline handed down by the Big Ten Conference with a 10-page response letter to the conference and commissioner Tony Petitti.

Petitti and the Big Ten will now evaluate the information and facts regarding the Wolverines’ sign-stealing allegations along with Michigan’s response that strongly urged the league not to act and hand down punishment, with many anticipating that a suspension being doled out to head coach Jim Harbaugh as a result.

The length of Harbaugh’s potential suspension is still unknown, with the Big Ten having the power to hand down up to a two-game suspension and a $10,000 fine according to standard policy. Harbaugh already served a self-imposed three-game suspension to start the college football season for allegations of NCAA recruiting violations, and sources are now saying that if yet another suspension comes Harbaugh’s way that legal action is likely.

While the Big Ten determines if Michigan violated the league’s sportsmanship policy, Harbaugh and the Michigan program are preparing for a legal rebuttal that would likely result in a lawsuit given the groundwork for an immediate appeal to the justice system laid out in their response letter to the conference.

If the Big Ten does choose to suspend Harbaugh ahead of Michigan’s game on Saturday versus Penn State, legal experts who spoke to ESPN anticipate that Michigan would likely ask for an ex parte ruling on a temporary restraining order, meaning the judge could make a decision after hearing Harbaugh’s argument before the Big Ten has an opportunity to respond.

According to retired chief judge from Washtenaw County Circuit Court, Donald Shelton, four factors would heavily weigh on the judge who would hear the case for the temporary restraining order, with the most important being proof of irreparable harm if the suspension is in place while waiting for a trial.

“It would argue that each football game is unique and that suspending the coach from any of the forthcoming games is a harm to him and the team that cannot be undone regardless of the outcome of a future trial on the merits,” Shelton said regarding Michigan’s argument for irreparable harm.

Shelton also predicted that the basis of the Big Ten’s counterargument would hinge on the team’s success earlier in the season when Harbaugh served his previous three-game suspension, a stretch where the Wolverines were successful and undefeated the same way they have been thus far the entire season.

A suspension being placed on Harbaugh and legal action taken against the Big Ten as a response seem imminent. Which would present an unprecedented situation in college football history with high-stakes short-term implications regarding Michigan’s current potential to win a conference and national championship and long-term implications regarding the future of their high profile head coach and a program that continues to add to their history of off the field controversy.