Ex-coach Mike McQueary files whistleblower suit against Penn State

Ex-Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary is suing the school. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

Former Penn State football assistant Mike McQueary, a key witness in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal, has filed a $4 million whistleblower lawsuit against the university, Philly.com reports.

In filings in Centre County court, McQueary alleged the university defamed his name and treated him unfairly fired him for his cooperation with state prosecutors building a criminal case against Sandusky.

McQueary testified that he walked in on Sandusky molesting a boy in a locker room shower in 2002 and later reported what he had seen to administrators including head coach Joe Paterno. Paterno was later fired by the university's board of trustees.

In his suit, McQueary said his treatment by the university had caused him "much distress, anxiety and embarrassment" since Sandusky's arrest in November. His complaints include a statement former university president Graham B. Spanier released hours after the arrests pledging full support of Tim Curley and Gary Schultz.

Those statements, McQueary's lawsuit alleges, "reinforced the perception that (McQueary) lied and committed perjury."

McQueary was placed on administrative leave Nov. 13 and was the only assistant coach on Paterno's former staff who was not interviewed for a position under new head coach Bill O'Brien.