(CNN) -- Penn State University officially dismissed longtime football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier on Friday, reaffirming a decision made after a child sex abuse scandal surfaced involving a former assistant football coach.
"The executive committee of the board met via conference call to reaffirm the deliberate leadership decisions that were made," according to a school statement.
University officials removed Paterno and Spanier on November 9, amid allegations that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was involved in the scandal.
Sandusky, 67, is charged with 40 counts relating to the alleged sexual abuse of eight boys he met through The Second Mile, a nonprofit organization he founded for underprivileged children.
The former coach is free on $100,000 bail and has maintained his innocence.
On Thursday, Sandusky's attorney denied what he called rumors that his client was considering a plea deal.
"The rumors ... are completely unfounded," Joe Amendola told CNN in an e-mail.
Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley, 57, and the school's vice president for finance and business, Gary Schultz, 62, have also been charged in the scandal. Each faces one count of felony perjury and one count of failure to report abuse allegations.
Attorneys for an alleged sexual abuse victim, meanwhile, say they have reached a settlement with Second Mile that allows it to stay in operation but requires it to obtain court approval before transferring assets or closing. Second Mile also is required to notify the plaintiff about any proposed distribution of assets.
"Our goal in filing this lawsuit was to protect the interests of our clients and other victims," attorney Ben Andreozzi of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said in a statement. "This settlement will preserve the assets of the Second Mile, and allow these victims to have a voice before any assets are transferred."
On Wednesday, a 29-year-old man filed the first civil lawsuit against Sandusky, saying Sandusky sexually abused him more than 100 times over several years during the 1990s, when he was a boy.
The accuser, identified in court documents as "John Doe A," was not cited in the report from a grand jury that prompted the charges against Sandusky, said his attorney, Jeff Anderson.
The lawsuit targets The Second Mile, Sandusky and Penn State University.
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