TUSCALOOSA, Ala.-- For the second time in as many days, University of Alabama faculty and staff have cut short former coach Mike Price's appeal of his firing.

The 14-member Staff Mediation Council voted Thursday to stick with its decision not to send Price's appeal to a hearing panel, university spokeswoman Janet Griffith said. The move leaves Price without further recourse within university policy, she said.

Price's attorney, Stephen Heninger of Birmingham, could not be immediately reached for comment. After the council reached the same decision Wednesday, Heninger said he would file a lawsuit against the university within two weeks.

Alabama President Robert Witt had asked the council to reconsider its decision and let a hearing panel, also made up of faculty and staff, consider Price's employment termination case and make a recommendation to University Chancellor Malcolm Portera. Griffith had no comment Thursday about the possibility of a lawsuit. She had said Wednesday that a potential lawsuit "would be one reason to hopefully allow this avenue of appeal." Price, who came to Alabama from Washington State after last season, had a seven-year, $10 million deal to coach the Crimson Tide. The contract was unsigned, and Witt said he decided to fire Price on grounds of conduct not in keeping with university policy. Witt has said Price should not receive any severance pay. Witt acted after it was learned that Price had gone to a topless bar in Pensacola, Fla., on April 16 and that a woman billed about $1,000 worth of room service to his hotel room the next morning. The university hired Miami Dolphins assistant Mike Shula as head coach on May 8.