{"id":48775,"date":"2026-04-14T23:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T20:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/uwm-mat-ishbia-sued-after-michigan-state-football-coachs-harassment-fallout\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T23:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T20:22:16","slug":"uwm-mat-ishbia-sued-after-michigan-state-football-coachs-harassment-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/uwm-mat-ishbia-sued-after-michigan-state-football-coachs-harassment-fallout\/","title":{"rendered":"UWM, Mat Ishbia sued after Michigan State football coach\u2019s harassment fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brenda Tracy, who reported sexual harassment against former Michigan State University head football coach Mel Tucker, is suing United Wholesale Mortgage<\/a><\/strong> (UWM) and CEO Mat Ishbia.<\/p>\n

Tracy claims the mortgage lender and its chief executive inserted themselves into a matter that was \u201cnone of their business.\u201d UWM called the lawsuit fabricated, stating it \u201cis about money and nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the complaint filed March 23 in Oakland County, Michigan, Ishbia<\/a> and UWM treated Tracy not as a \u201cperson whose privacy mattered, but as a problem to be managed once her complaint threatened Ishbia\u2019s interest and investments tied to Tucker, the football program and the Michigan State University brand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A UWM spokesperson vehemently denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Tracy first sued Coach Tucker, but that case was thrown out of court. She then sued Michigan State, and the University has since filed a motion to dismiss that case as well,\u201d the spokesperson told HousingWire<\/strong>. \u201cFollowing those failures, her lawyers have filed a new complaint now naming Mat and UWM in an attempt to capitalize on the same unfounded allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson noted the claims rely solely on communications from David Zacks, UWM\u2019s former general counsel who passed away last year. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, David Zacks and Mel Tucker were longtime friends, and their communications were personal in nature and had nothing to do with Mat Ishbia or UWM,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Tracy said in a social media post that \u201clawsuits are not just about money. They\u2019re also about injunctive relief, which is what I am seeking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tucker signed a 10-year, $95 million contract as Michigan State\u2019s head football coach in November 2021 \u2014 which included $14 million directly contributed by Ishbia, the lawsuit claims. In December 2022, Tracy reported to the university\u2019s Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) that Tucker sexually harassed her in April of that year. MSU terminated Tucker<\/a> in October 2023 following an investigation in which Tracy participated.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that during the investigation, Tucker\u2019s attorney requested communications with Tracy\u2019s office also be sent to Zacks at his UWM email address.<\/p>\n

\u201cIshbia and UWM had a direct corporate stake in communications sent to or through Zacks because the emails and related electronic records belonged to UWM and were created, received, maintained, or routed through UWM systems while Zacks was serving as UWM\u2019s general counsel,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges Ishbia was interested in the case because he was MSU\u2019s largest single donor at the time. It claims Zacks had no reason to be included in communications other than \u201ckeeping Ishbia in the loop,\u201d noting Zacks was never identified on the record as Tucker\u2019s attorney or adviser.<\/p>\n

Disclosing confidential OIE information to people outside MSU violates statutory duty and constitutes unlawful action, according to the lawsuit. It alleges the information was used for reputational management and media purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween December 2022 and January 2024, OIE staff transmitted emails or attachments concerning plaintiff\u2019s investigation to one or more @uwm.com addresses,\u201d the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n

Tracy\u2019s lawsuit includes counts of tortious interference with business<\/a> expectancy, civil conspiracy, public disclosure of private facts and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The amount in controversy exceeds $25,000.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brenda Tracy, who reported sexual harassment against former Michigan State University head football coach Mel Tucker, is suing United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) and CEO Mat Ishbia. Tracy claims the mortgage lender and its chief executive inserted themselves into a matter that was \u201cnone of their business.\u201d UWM called the lawsuit fabricated, stating it \u201cis about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48775\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}