US probe starts in ex-Michigan kicker Brendan Gibbons' sex case

Published Feb. 25, 2014 2:44 p.m. ET

foxsports

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The federal government is looking at how the University of Michigan responded to a reported violation of the school's sexual misconduct policy by a football player.

The Detroit News reported Tuesday that the probe by the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights began after federal officials received complaints related to the expulsion of kicker Brendan Gibbons, who is no longer enrolled.

One of the complaints was filed last year and says the university didn't investigate the 2009 incident. It also says the school's grievance policy doesn't fully comply with a federal law prohibiting discrimination based on gender.

Gibbons was expelled in December for violating the sexual misconduct policy. He has not been charged with a crime.

University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald says the school will ''fully cooperate'' with the investigation.