Her court document is under oath, but it did not say she felt forced out. It said she had a conversation in which she thought the AD was forcing her out and then had a second conversation in which it was not the case.
The women filing the case says she was given the ultimatum: resign, retire, or be fired, and people seem to be confusing the two situations.
This is a messy situation for TN, but every large company/institution has a number of these come up on a fairly regular basis.
Pat's document is really more a PR move by the defense than a supporting document to the case, and Pat called as a witness would probably not be a positive if this got to trial. But as fodder for media circus and for the perhaps less than rational Vol WCBB fan base it is definitely ratcheting up the pressure.
That's about it, IMO.
For those sticklers who see some faint contradiction between "I felt forced out" and "I wasn't forced out," here it is in conversational form:
Hart to Pat: "Your days as head coach are numbered. The fat lady is singing. To everything there is a season. You have to know when to hold 'em and fold 'em. We have to talk about a transition."
Pat to Debbie Jennings (plaintiff/confidante): "I can't believe it. Looks like they're forcing me out."
Jennings to Hart (and to others; raising a ruckus): "You can't do this to her. After all she's done for the University etc. etc."
Hart to Jennings: "I'm not forcing her out. We're having a negotiation. You wanta see forcing out? I'LL show you forcing out. Start packing."
Hart to Pat: "Now Pat, you misunderstood me. It's not my way or the highway. We can have a constructive conversation, find a win-win path, a mutually beneficial arrangement, blah blah etc."
Jennings to Pat: "I'm suing the SOBs. You told me you felt forced out. Now they're firing me for defending you. Are you willing to sign an affidavit about how you felt?"
Pat to Jennings: "Uh ... OK."
Hart to Pat: "You know very well that, in the end, when all was said and done, at the end of the day, in the final analysis, when push came to shove and it came down to brass tacks, you WEREN"T in fact forced out. You had all that input and stuff. Are you willing to sign a statement on that?
Pat to Hart: "Uh ... OK."
Hart to Pat: "Good, 'cause now maybe the freakin' fans will be even more confused than usual, tryin' to choose between delusions, and they'll shut up."
