20.7 Million Lawsuit Filed Against UT Martin

A former UT Martin student and attorney, Doctor Paul Blaylock has filed a 20.7 million lawsuit against UT Martin due to what the lawsuit alleges as defamation libel, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of intellectual and proprietary property, violation of Tennessee charitable donor statute, tortious interference, promissory estoppel, declaratory judgement, unjust enrichment, specific performance and punitive damages.

Blaylock is seeking relief in the amount of 10 million in economic damages, $750,000 in non-economic damages and 10 million in punitive damages.

In 2023, Blaylock was honored by UT Martin on October 20 with the dedication of the Blaylock Inspiration Oracle which is located near the Boling University Center. Blaylock wanted to leave a legacy for his alma mater and the structure was made possible due to the funds received from Blaylock in the amount of 2.4 million. During the dedication ceremony Blaylock spoke of the importance of the inspirational plaques that the lawsuit alleges were later covered up and not allowed to be seen by the public.

“The core reason for this gift is not the building, not the fountain, not the plaza,” Blaylock said. “The core of this gift is the plaques, the inspirational plaques.” He said that students who enter the oracle will have access to “a museum of knowledge” created by the plaques.

The lawsuit alleges that in October of 2018 Blaylock met with Dr. Joe Johnson, Emeritus UT President and that during that meeting a discussion was had between the two which focused on where Blaylock should leave his Legacy Donation. Johnson expressed a vision for Blaylock to leave the donation at UT Martin as inspirational plaques in a museum building displaying said plaques for future generations of students.

The lawsuit also alleges that Blaylock has donated over 100 scholarships to UTM students in the last 20 years and in 2023 when the oracle was being built he and his wife donated $100,000 for the Chancellor Scholarship Endowment which gave 100 students a scholarship.

The lawsuit states that during 2020 Blaylock met with four UTM representatives to negotiate details. Those representatives were Dr. Keith Carver, Dr. Charley Deal, Dr. Phil Watkins and Frank Wagster. Between 2017 and 2023 Blaylock never met or communicated with any other UTM administrators or representatives during the 5 years working on the project.

The lawsuit also states that the project was to include an iconic Oracle Parthenon Building, a student plaza with the famous Caesar Fountain and rock plaza and to also include inspirational plaques/kiosks with inspirational and educational quotes to inspire students. Blaylock spent 5 years researching and selecting over 500 quotes and authenticating their accuracy with no mention from anyone at UTM that there was a problem with the plaques.

Blaylock stated that in June 2023 everything changed and he and Watkins met with a new administrator, Petra Rencher McPhearson and a member of her review committee. The day before the meeting the plaques and kiosks had been produced and shipped to UTM. Blaylock, Watkins and Dr. Frederick then spent 12 hours mounting them and getting them ready for display.

At the meeting, however, McPhearson stated that the plaques “lacked diversity” implying racial bias, according to the lawsuit and the plaques were later covered and not allowed to be seen by the public or the students.

The lawsuit alleges that there were multiple emails between 2023-2024 that were libelous in nature. The plaques were sent to UT Counsel to review and their report demonstrated that over 80% of the proposed plaques were not a legal risk to UTM due to plaques and quotes being protected under the public domain and fair use doctrine laws and statutes. UT Counsel reminded UTM that most of the plaque quotes preceded 1928 and were legally under public domain, however UTM removed all the plaques from ever being displayed according to the lawsuit.

UTM has yet to comment on the situation but has filed a motion for dismissal. The hearing has been set for Monday, October 28.