A former Baylor athletic department employee has ended his defamation lawsuit against the university and regents, deciding instead to pursue his claims through arbitration.

Colin Shillinglaw, the football team's former director of operations, filed a lawsuit in January in Dallas County accusing Baylor, four regents and Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton of defamation.

Shillinglaw was fired on May 26 in the wake of Baylor's sexual assault scandal and the investigation by Pepper Hamilton into the school's handling of sexual violence complaints. His lawsuit stated that his status was later changed to a suspension with the intent to terminate.

The lawsuit stated that regents and Baylor officials said in media interviews that the "Baylor football program was out of control," which the suit said "clearly defamed Mr. Shillinglaw or anyone else associated with the Baylor football staff and administration."

A news release issued Thursday by Shillinglaw's attorney, Gaines West, stated that Shillinglaw's "present employment agreement with Baylor requires all disputes be resolved by arbitration" and that doing so will provide a more timely resolution to his claims and "not allow these defendants to escape responsibility by using delaying tactics through the courts that could last for many years."

The release stated that Shillinglaw still is unable to find a job.

A day after Shillinglaw filed his lawsuit on Jan. 31, 2017, former Baylor coach Art Briles -- who also was fired in May -- dropped the libel and conspiracy lawsuit he had filed against the university. The next day, in a 54-page legal filing responding to Shillinglaw's suit, Baylor regents provided a series of text messages implicating Briles and other members of the athletic department in covering up criminal incidents involving football players and actively avoiding the school's judicial affairs office.

The regents' response stated: "Colin Shillinglaw's defamation claims amount to nothing more than a public relations smokescreen intended to hide the truth about how Shillinglaw, Coach Briles and others created a culture within the football program that shielded players from University discipline for alleged offenses ranging from drug use and academic cheating to assault," and that Shillinglaw served a "pivotal figure" in an "internal disciplinary system."

Another fired athletic department employee, Tom Hill, filed a lawsuit in a Texas state court in December against Pepper Hamilton accusing the firm and its attorneys of negligence and defamation.

That case is pending in federal court.