Four Pronghorns sue university, sports director, hockey coach

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Four players from the University of Lethbridge women’s hockey team are suing the school, its sports director and the team’s coach.

A statement of claim filed this week in Court of Queen’s Bench names Olivia Alexander, Alannah Jensen, Chelsea Kasprick and Brittney Sawyer as plaintiffs.

The women claim in court documents obtained by Lethbridge News Now that they were harassed and intimidated while playing for the Pronghorns.

They allege coach Michelle Janus made abusive remarks to players and allowed bullying on the team.

The women also allege the university and sports executive director Ken McInnes did not do enough — namely firing Janus as head coach — when multiple concerns were raised as early as 2015.

None of the allegations has been proven in court and the university has said it will not provide any comments specific to the lawsuit.

The statement of claim says the players were “subjected to the harassing and demeaning conduct, representations, omission and/or negligence of McInnes and Janus.”

“The defendants harassed and bullied the plaintiffs by engaging in threatening and intimidating behaviours, not providing them proper care, calling them names and suggesting they were mentally unstable on a daily basis,” the document says.

A list of damages alleged by the players include physical, psychological and emotional harm, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, headaches, insomnia and loss of interest in playing sports, specifically hockey.