Spanier drops suit against Penn State

Former Pennsylvania State University president Graham B. Spanier withdrew his lawsuit Wednesday against his former employer, according to court filings.

Spanier had sued the university in May seeking access to old e-mails written before he resigned from his post last year in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

University officials refused, saying that state prosecutors had asked them not to allow Spanier access because the correspondence were now part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Spanier, meanwhile, had declined to be interviewed as part of Penn State's internal investigation into its handling of Sandusky allegations without first having the chance to review those old writings, which figured prominently in a report released last week by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

Documents highlighted by Freeh in a report released last week suggested Spanier signed off on a 2001 plan to avoid reporting Sandusky to outside authorities as long as he was cooperative when confronted with school investigators.

In a motion filed in Centre County court Wednesday, Spanier's attorneys offered no explanation on their decision to drop their suit.

They were not immediately available for comment.

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