WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - A judge has granted the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit tied to its multiyear academic scandal from federal court, sending the matter back to state court.
U.S. District Court Judge Loretta C. Biggs ruled Wednesday that UNC has 11th Amendment immunity as an arm of the state, preventing the school from being sued in federal court.
Ex-football player Devon Ramsay and former women’s basketball player Rashanda McCants filed the lawsuit in 2015.
Biggs made a similar immunity ruling last month in separate lawsuit filed by two other former UNC athletes amid the scandal tied to irregular courses in an academic department.
Both UNC spokeswoman Joanne Peters and Ramsay-McCants attorney Robert F. Orr say they look forward to presenting their cases in state court.
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