UNC Academic Scandal: Does Mary Willingham's Lawsuit Mean She Was Pushed Out By Chapel Hill Administrators?

Mary Willingham has filed a lawsuit against the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill for retaliating against her for bringing forth the school's academic scandal.

According to the Raleigh News and Observer, Willingham filed a 25-page complaint Monday in the Wake County Superior Court. She alleges she had been the subject of a hostile work environment for three years, ever since she began speaking with the newspaper.

Willingham became the whistleblower on the UNC academic scandal when she told CNN she encountered a student-athlete who could not read or write. She said she examined reading abilities of 183 football and basketball players at UNC - Chapel Hill. Between 2004 and 2012, she found 60 percent of those players read at a fourth- to eighth-grade level and 10 percent read below a third-grade level.

"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is aware of the lawsuit filed by former employee Mary Willingham," Joel Curran, vice chancellor of communications and public affairs, said in a statement on Willingham's lawsuit Tuesday. "We respect the right of any current or former employee to speak out on important university and national issues. We believe the facts will demonstrate that Ms. Willingham was treated fairly and appropriately while she was employed at Carolina."

Heydt Philbeck, Willingham's attorney, told WTVD his client only tried to speak out against what she thought was wrong. As a result, Willingham alleged in her lawsuit she was demoted and ultimately ignored.

"I believe in Mary Willingham," Philbeck said. "She has been through a lot. All for standing up for what's right. With this lawsuit we seek to right the wrongs.

"She stood up for was right. The people in power didn't like that and they decided to treat her differently."

To back up Willingham's claims, Rashad McCants, a former UNC - Chapel Hill basketball player, told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" he and his teammates took "paper classes." Willingham later announced her intention to resign amid whispers she was forced out. She said she informed her boss she was resigning on her own terms, but her lawsuit now suggests the school did push her to leave her post.