Elder Holland protected Dehlin for years
TLDR: Elder Holland was friends with John Dehlin and protected him, and as soon as he died, the church sued Dehlin.
Apparently Jeffery R holland was friends with Dehlin. I know that Dehlin had mentioned this a few times, but it was also mentioned by the Salt Lake Tribune and Mormon apologist Daniel Peterson when discussing the circumstances that led to the dismissal of Peterson from the Maxwell Institute at BYU in 2012.
Back then, Peterson was about to publish a hit piece against Dehlin, but a general authority 70 intervened and stopped the presses and then BYU fired Peterson from the Maxwell Institute. Of course this could not have happened without Holland’s blessing, knowing how close he was to BYU.
So it appears that Elder Holland protected Dehlin and discouraged the church from taking any action against him for the last 20 years. This explains the timing of the suit coming shortly after Holland‘s passing.