We have been covering the story of a University of North Carolina professor who was threatened with death after revealing athletes’ shockingly low reading levels.

The whistleblower, Mary Willingham, resigned then filed a lawsuit against the school.  There are new developments:

Three administrators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Mary Willingham, a former academic adviser who public criticized literacy levels of UNC athletes amid investigations into academic fraud at the school.

Willingham filed suit in July against the university, claiming the school retaliated against her for speaking out by altering the terms of her employment in July 2013, including a demoted rank and title and additional job duties that would require “extensive training.”

She also alleged in an amended lawsuit that Chancellor Carol Folt, Provost James Dean and Roberta “Bobbi” Owen, former senior associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Arts & Sciences, slandered her by calling her a “liar” and research into athlete literacy levels a “travesty.”

The motion to dismiss Folt, Dean and Owen as defendants notes that Willingham resigned from UNC-Chapel Hill at the end of the 2013-14 school year and maintains the lawsuit is improper because Willingham didn’t complete the university grievance process and exhaust all appeals before turning to the court for damages.

“Plaintiff’s amended complaint is an improper attempt to obtain damages for the loss of a job she chose to quit,” the motion states.