Paige Shiver, the former University of Michigan football department employee who has publicly identified herself as the staffer at the center of the Sherrone Moore scandal, has taken the school to court in the latest twist to a saga that will not stay quiet in Ann Arbor. Shiver filed a lawsuit in Washtenaw County this week asking a judge to force U-M to hand over investigative files, interview recordings and internal communications that her attorneys say the university improperly withheld.
As first reported by ClickOnDetroit, the complaint, filed on Tuesday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, lists Shiver and attorney Julie Murphy as plaintiffs and says the university rejected multiple public records requests submitted between February and June. The suit zeroes in on the Jenner & Block investigative file tied to Moore’s firing, interview transcripts and recordings, communications between university officials and Moore, emails between Moore and Athletic Director Warde Manuel, and messages sent to a reporting inbox managed by Jenner & Block.
What the lawsuit demands
The plaintiffs say the university leaned on explanations such as ongoing investigations, privacy exemptions and even claims that no responsive records existed when it denied the requests, a pattern they argue runs afoul of Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. According to AP, the complaint asks the court to order the release of the records, declare the denials unlawful, and award attorney fees and punitive damages if the university is found to have acted arbitrarily.
Background: Moore’s plea and sentencing
Moore was fired in December 2025 after the university concluded he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, and he was arrested after an encounter at the woman’s apartment that day. ESPN reported that Moore pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts and was sentenced in April to 18 months of probation as part of a deal that led to the dismissal of earlier felony and stalking charges.
Price tag and the push for transparency
Shiver’s attorneys point to invoices showing the university has paid Jenner & Block nearly 12 million dollars to investigate the matter and argue taxpayers should be able to see what that money bought. The Detroit Free Press reported that recent invoices were heavily redacted and that the university denied requests for final invoices or reports, citing attorney-client privilege.
Shiver's account and medical context
In an April interview on Good Morning America, Shiver described years of manipulation, said she became pregnant during the relationship, and said she later had an abortion after doctors raised health concerns tied to Pompe disease. The Cleveland Clinic describes Pompe disease as a rare genetic disorder in which glycogen builds up in cells and can cause severe muscle and respiratory problems if it is not treated early.
Legal implications
The suit asks a circuit court to compel disclosure under Michigan’s FOIA and to award attorney fees and damages to the plaintiffs, remedies courts may grant when a public body withholds records in an arbitrary way. Michigan’s FOIA, formally titled Act 442 of 1976, lays out appeal routes and remedies for requesters, according to the text of the law (Act 442). The complaint frames those statutory pathways as the next step after repeated denials, a point highlighted in coverage by ClickOnDetroit.
As of yesterday, the university had not filed a response to the complaint, and spokespeople declined to provide additional comment to reporters following the case. For now, the fight over the Moore investigation will unfold in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, as Shiver’s legal team pushes to bring the findings into public view and presses for what it calls accountability from a public institution that spent millions on an inquiry it is now resisting releasing.
