Auburn investigating alleged academic fraud from 2015

Auburn has hired a law firm to investigate allegations that an academic mentor wrote a final exam for at least one member of the 2015 football team, according to ESPN's Outside the Lines.

ESPN's initial report said the player was on the 2016 team, but an updated version of the story says the player was on the 2015 team.

A tutor who worked with the mentor learned she had written an online exam for a player. The tutor also claims, citing academic records, that the player received a perfect grade on a final exam just a few weeks into the course.

Weeks after informing the mentor's supervisor of the misconduct, the tutor was told her contract wouldn't be renewed by the university. She then took the allegations to Auburn's compliance department and the human resources office of the athletics department.

Auburn denied the allegations in a statement:

It's simply not true. The person making the accusation is a part-time employee placed on administrative leave on Aug. 31 because of a dispute with a coworker. She is making claims not supported by facts, and based on what ESPN told us, she keeps changing her story. Neither she, her attorney nor our investigation have produced anything to support her claims.

However, an email from the school to the tutor notifying her that she was being put on leave didn't indicate her administrative absence had anything to do with the supposed co-worker dispute. The email was shared with ESPN by the tutor's attorney.

Both the mentor and player have denied the allegations.

The mentor left Auburn shortly after the allegations surfaced, but told ESPN her departure was related to an ill family member.