Report: LSU Plans to Ban Derrius Guice, Fires Longtime Law Firm

LSU plans to ban former running back Derrius Guice indefinitely from the university's athletic program, according to ESPN's Heather Dinich.

The university also plans to remove Guice's stats from the program's record books, a university spokesperson told ESPN. 

Last year, Guice was charged in three separate domestic violence incidents. In 2016, two women accused Guice of sexual assault in addition to another woman accusing him of taking a naked photo of her without her permission and showing it to his teammates at LSU. 

Guice, who was drafted by Washington Football Team, was released following his August arrest and has since been a free agent. 

In addition to banning Guice, the university also plans to end its relationship with longtime law firm, Taylor Porter. LSU has worked with the firm for 80 years.

The school's decisions come after the March Husch Blackwell report that detailed the failure of the athletic program to properly report sexual misconduct and abuse cases. The university's failure to comply with Title IX requirements to report and investigate incidents of sexual misconduct came to light after the school released the report.

On April 6, the U.S. Department of Education launched its second investigation of the program's mishandling of cases.

The university notified Taylor Porter on Friday that it would be removed from any litigation moving forward, according to ESPN.

LSU athletic's department did not properly respond to the sexual misconduct allegations about former Tigers football head coach Les Miles, according to the Husch Blackwell report. The former coach was accused of texting female student workers on a burner phone, driving them alone to his condo and kissing a student on at least one occasion.

Husch Blackwell also reported that former athletic director Joe Alleva recommended Miles be fired for cause, citing "insubordination, inappropriate behavior, putting the university, athletic dept. and football program at great risk."

According to ESPN, Taylor Porter's May 2013 report showed that only three of LSU's 16 board members had knowledge of the extent of the allegations. Those board members present—Hank Danos, Bobby Yarborough and Stanley Jacobs—decided the full board did not need to further review the allegations of misconduct against Miles, who kept his job. Taylor Porter took no further action once the three board members made their decision and the law firm is now accused of participating in covering up the allegations.

The university's current board of supervisors plans to consider a vote of disapproval at its next meeting for the three previous board members failing to disclose accusations of Miles's alleged misconduct. Miles, who left his job as head coach at Kansas following the report's release, continues to deny the allegations. 

David Shelby, Taylor Porter's general counsel, told the Advocate on Friday that the law firm carried out an ethical process. 

"Our firm's attorneys made no recommendations about who should be informed of the results of the investigation," Shelby said. "Indeed, it was not our place to do so in light of the issues presented by the investigation.

"Any suggestion that Taylor Porter orchestrated or participated in a cover-up is absolutely false, and, in time, the full record will make this clear."