Fired staffer wants court to force Baylor to release Hamilton report

Former athletic department staffer Thomas Hill is asking a Dallas County court to force Baylor to produce the Pepper Hamilton report, which documented the school's sexual-assault scandal and led to the firings of several people within the department.

Hill, who was dismissed from Baylor amid the scandal, claims he never received an explanation for his firing and that his axing was an ill-informed, knee-jerk reaction by the university.

"Baylor summarily fired Mr. Hill without explanation or warning," a release from Hill's attorneys obtained by ESPN states. "In a rush to judgment, Baylor's Board of Regents made the decision to fire Mr. Hill without ever talking to him or getting his side of the story."

Attorney Rogge Dunn told ESPN he filed a Rule 202 petition with the court, asking it to order Baylor's board of regents to turn over materials related to Hill's firing and allow for the deposition of various regents.

"It's a way to get to the evidence quickly, rather than from the other cases that are moving slowly," Dunn told the network.

Since releasing the findings of the Pepper Hamilton report, Baylor has insisted a written copy of it doesn't actually exist, instead maintaining that school administrators received an oral presentation of the report back in May.

It's unclear what role Hill played in Hamilton's investigation, as his name never surfaced in any reports obtained by ESPN's Outside the Lines, and never came up publicly in the scandal aside from his specific firing.

"While not to the same degree as the courageous women who were victimized in this dark time in Baylor's history, Hill is yet another - and unnecessary - victim of this controversy," the petition said.

Baylor officials have yet to comment on Hill's petition.