A U.S. District judge in Texas on Wednesday dismissed a federal lawsuit filed by a former Baylor athletic department employee. The suit had said the employee was a victim of negligence, defamation, wrongful intentional conduct and conspiracy as a result of Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton's investigation of the university's handling of allegations of sexual assault by students.

Tom Hill, a former associate athletic director for community relations and special projects at Baylor, sued Pepper Hamilton and attorneys Leslie M. Gomez and Gina Maisto Smith on Jan. 23, alleging their eight-month investigation into Baylor's sexual assault scandal led to his improper firing in May 2016. Hill had worked 28 years in Baylor's athletic department.

Hill also accused former Baylor board of regents chairman Neal "Buddy" Jones of wrongful and intentional conduct by influencing the current board's decision to fire him. Hill was seeking $2 million in damages.

Last week U.S. District judge Robert Pitman also dismissed a Title IX lawsuit filed by a former Baylor financial aid officer, who sued the university saying she was fired in retaliation for reinstating the scholarship of a football player accused of sexual assault. Lyn Wheeler Kinyon reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the university.

Pitman is also overseeing the other six Title IX lawsuits filed on behalf of 15 women who said they were sexually assaulted or physically assaulted by Baylor students, including football players.

Hill and former football operations director Colin Shillinglaw were terminated in May 2016, alongside former Baylor football head coach Art Briles, after the board of regents reviewed the findings from Pepper Hamilton's investigation into how the school responded to students who reported sexual assaults and domestic violence. The investigation led to the suspension of former athletic director Ian McCaw and removal of Ken Starr as president; both men would later resign from Baylor altogether.

Shillinglaw filed a lawsuit in January in Dallas County accusing Baylor, four regents and Pepper Hamilton of defamation. He ended his defamation lawsuit against the university and regents in April, deciding instead to pursue his claims through arbitration.