COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The tattoos for memorabilia scandal that has swept away former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel and ex-star quarterback Terrelle Pryor has now reached the state’s highest court in a public records showdown between OSU and ESPN.

The sports entertainment giant filed a lawsuit Monday with the Ohio Supreme Court claiming the university violated Ohio’s public records laws by failing to make available three different sets of public records sought by ESPN earlier this year. The lawsuit is essentially asking the state’s highest court to force OSU into releasing the records to ESPN.

One set of records involves e-mails, letters and memos from Tressel, OSU President Gordon Gee, OSU director of sports compliance officer Doug Archie and Athletics Director Gene Smith related to Pennsylvania businessman Ted Sarniak that ESPN requested on April 20.

On May 27, OSU declined to provide those e-mails claiming they were prohibited from doing so by the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), according to ESPN’s lawsuit.

Sarniak, a businessman who has been described as a mentor for Pryor, was the person who Tressel forwarded e-mails to that the coach had received about certain OSU football players, including Pryor, being connected with a Columbus tattoo parlor owner, Eddie Rife. Those e-mails, which were sent by Columbus attorney Chris Cicero, told Tressel that Rife was the subject of a federal law enforcement investigation and that the players had exchanged signed OSU memorabilia in exchange for tattoos.

Tressel did not forward the e-mails to his superiors at OSU or to the NCAA, a decision which ultimately lead to his ouster under pressure from Ohio State officials. Meanwhile, Pryor decided to leave OSU and apply for the NFL’s supplementary draft after Tressel was shown the door.

In the lawsuit, ESPN says that OSU is “aggressive and misguided” and “equal parts cynical and hypocritical” for claiming they are prohibited by FERPA from releasing the communications that concern Sarniak. Noting that Sarniak is neither a parent or guardian of any player on the team, the lawsuit states that OSU hasn’t indicated the records would discuss grades, financial aid or other items covered by FERPA.

“It is impossible to imagine that Congress had any interest in restricting the flow of information about shady deals at a tattoo parlor when it passed FERPA in 1974,” states the lawsuit. ESPN attorney John Greiner declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Jim Lynch, OSU director of media relations, said the university can’t release the Sarniak-related correspondence because the businessman had a relationship with only one OSU student-athlete.

In an e-mail, Lynch said OSU “believes that it has adhered to all applicable state and federal laws.”

The e-mail says the university has been “inundated” with public records requests including “voluminous” requests from ESPN. “While the university often receives media requests that are overly broad, given Ohio’s public record laws, we generally try to work with reporters to help them find the information they are seeking, working within the boundaries of the applicable laws,” it reads.