With top NFL Draft prospect Laremy Tunsil just hours from becoming a professional football player, his stepfather has filed a civil lawsuit against the Ole Miss product stemming from a June 2015 altercation, The Clarion-Ledger reported Wednesday.
Tunsil was arrested on domestic violence charges for allegedly punching his stepfather, Lindsay Miller, while defending his mother. Charges filed by both sides were dropped in August. But now Miller alleges Tunsil was unprovoked and is suing for “intentional infliction of emotional distress” because of the attack and defamation of his name.
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According to the report, Miller’s lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interest and all costs associated with the suit because of “past, present, and future bodily injury, pain & suffering, severe emotional distress, medical costs, damage to reputation, and/or other types of damages that he has incurred (and will likely continue to incur).”
“Defendant Tunsil pushed Mr. Miller against the wall in the hallway, causing him to fall,” the lawsuit reads. “The disabled Navy combat veteran was simply unable to protect himself from the unprovoked assault by the six-foot-five-inch, 305-pound, powerfully-strong offensive tackle.”
Miller’s lawsuit says Tunsil’s claims that he was protecting his mother “were designed, in whole or in part, to discredit Mr. Miller’s allegations to law enforcement.”
Miller’s suit is requesting depositions from Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze, offensive line coach Matt Luke and assistant athletic director John Miller, claiming Tunsil “published a false account of the altercation to Ole Miss Head Football Coach Hugh Freeze, to other Ole Miss coaches, and/or to other persons in general.” Therefore, “Tunsil’s malicious statements, as repeated by Coach Freeze and others, caused irreparable damage to Mr. Miller’s reputation, the nature and scope of which will be determined at trial.”
Despite his off-field complications, Tunsil is expected to be a top-10 pick Thursday night in Chicago.