Federal judge dismisses defensive tackle DeSanto Rollins’ lawsuit against Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin

The lawsuit filed by defensive tackle DeSanto Rollins against Ole Miss and Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin has reached a conclusion. Federal judge Michael Mills dismissed the case.

Rollins filed a federal lawsuit against Kiffin and the university in September, claiming he was suffering from mental health issues, didn’t receive proper care from the university and that Kiffin kicked him off the team. Kiffin and Ole Miss filed a motion to dismiss the case in November, claiming Kiffin is entitled to qualified immunity and that he isn’t liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The motion included that the university is immune from Americans with Disabilities Act liability under the Eleventh Amendment.

The following is part of what the lawsuit claims to be a meeting between Rollins and head coach Lane Kiffin in March.

“Ok so what are you doing? You just, after two weeks of not showing up did you come here to say you’re quitting?” Kiffin said.

“What do you mean two weeks of not showing up?” Rollins said.

“You haven’t been here for two weeks,” Kiffin said.

“I told Coach Savage I was going to take a mental health break,” Rollins said.

The conversation also included the following:

“Well what f***ing world do you live in?” Kiffin said.

“I don’t see why you have to be so disrespectful honestly,” Rollins said.

“Get out of here go go, you’re off the team. You’re done see ya… see ya. It’s called being a p***y. It’s called hiding behind s**t and not showing up to work,” Kiffin said.

WCBI understands there was a later text and email from Kiffin indicating that Rollins was not off the team, and he is still listed on the online roster. The lawsuit accuses the university of racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also accuses Kiffin of intentional emotional distress among other allegations.

Mills wrote in the ruling “Although Kiffin’s conduct in the meetings was certainly offensive and imprudent, it is more akin to immature insults and indignities than to behavior going ‘beyond all possible bounds of decency.'”