Federal judge pauses civil proceedings in lawsuit against Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

The federal lawsuit against Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has been put on pause, following a one-page order for a stay from further action from Magistrate Judge Roy Percy, according to Front Office Sports. The stay order comes shortly after Kiffin moved to dismiss the lawsuit, which seeks $40 million in damages.

The lawsuit, filed by Ole Miss football defensive lineman DeSanto Rollins, alleges Kiffin was “malicious, intentional, willful, wanton, grossly reckless, and indifferent” in regard to Rollins’ mental health. Kiffin has moved to dismiss the case on grounds of immunity.

Because of that motion to dismiss and the specific argument at hand, Percy paused proceedings.

“Consequently, the disclosure requirements and all discovery are hereby stayed, and the case management conference is continued, pending a ruling on the motion to dismiss,” Percy wrote in the single-page ruling ordering the stay.

Kiffin moved to dismiss the suit earlier in the week

Rollins’ lawsuit alleges that Kiffin “ignored” indications the 305-pound defensive tackle was suffering from depression when he requested a mental health break from the team and includes an audio recording of a contentious meeting between Rollins and Kiffin from March.

To that, Kiffin’s lawyers responded accordingly.

“Plaintiff has not alleged Kiffin treated him differently than other similarly situated individuals, much less that he did so with discriminatory intent because of Plaintiff’s race or sex,” Kiffin’s attorney’s wrote in a brief attached to the motion to dismiss.

The crux of Rollins’ argument in his lawsuit, according to reporting done by Front Office Sports (FOS), appears to be that Lane Kiffin was upset Rollins didn’t enter the transfer portal after the 2022 season and was punished as a result.

According to FOS, Rollins said he was “being moved from his defensive tackle position to the scout team on the offensive line,” prompting him to seek a mental health break.

The ordeal culminated in an eventual spring meeting with Lane Kiffin that proved contentious, the audio of which FOS obtained and has posted in its article on the situation.

Rollins’ suit claims that similarly situated individuals like a white football player, white female softball players and female volleyball players did not face similar punishment for taking mental health breaks.

But Kiffin’s lawyers say there is no merit to Rollins’ claims in the $40 million lawsuit.

For one, they say that multiple times this spring Kiffin requested a meeting with Rollins and he did not respond until several weeks later.

Kiffin’s lawyers also noted there is no obligation for a coach to speak to his players in a particular manner nor is there a duty to have written institutional procedures on how to handle “routine mental health referrals.”