Jim Harbaugh added to lawsuit in Michigan phone hacking scandal

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was named as a defendant on Friday in one of multiple ongoing lawsuits against the University of Michigan.

The newest lawsuit is an amended class-action complaint that was filed by 11 women accusing former Michigan offensive coordinator Matt Weiss of hacking into their personal accounts and taking personal photos. It also names current Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel as a defendant.

The Detroit News first reported the update Friday.

The original lawsuit, filed on March 21, alleges that Weiss viewed private information of the school’s female students between Dec. 21-23, 2022.

Harbaugh, who served as head coach of Michigan’s football program from 2015-23, failed to act to protect students, the lawsuit alleges.

“Naming Head Coach Jim Harbaugh and Athletic Director Warde Manuel in this complaint reflects our belief that leadership at the highest levels either knew of these threats or deliberately ignored them, prioritizing athletic prestige and profit over the safety and dignity of students,” one of the women’s lawyers, Parker Stinar, told the Detroit News in a statement.

The lawsuit also alleges that Michigan officials let Weiss coach in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl despite knowing that he hacked into the personal accounts of female athletes at the university.

“In this way, the university placed profits before people, particularly women and female student athletes,” lawyers for the women wrote in the lawsuit.

This newest lawsuit is one of at least 13 civil cases filed against Weiss by lawyers who represent over 80 female athletes across the nation.

The allegations against the former Ravens assistant coach surfaced three months after he was federally indicted and accused of illegally obtaining access to a database of college athletes at more than 100 universities that was maintained by a third-party company.

Weiss then allegedly downloaded the personal information of over 150,000 individuals and ultimately gained access to their social media, email and cloud storage accounts of at least 3,000 athletes.

With this access, Weiss allegedly downloaded intimate digital photos and videos “that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners,” federal prosecutors said.