Civil suit in hazing incident ongoing

Father of the alleged hazing victim filed suit prior to the conclusion of the case

TREDYFFRIN >> The father of the alleged hazing victim has filed a civil suit against the Tredyffrin/ Easttown School District and the high school football coaches who had been let go in the aftermath of the alleged hazing incident.

Filed in November, 2016, prior to the conclusion of the hazing case, the 22 page complaint largely reiterates the claims made by Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan at his March 4, 2016, news conference about the alleged sodomy and “No-Gay Thursday,” with a few discrepancies.

Since the hazing case resulted in a guilty plea for a summary harassment offense instead of the more severe assault related charges Hogan announced at his news conference, the plaintiff’s case against the defendants may have been weakened.

The alleged victim’s father hired two attorneys, Miriam Benton Barish from the Philadelphia law firm Anapol Weiss, and Thomas H. Ramsay, from West Chester law firm Ramsay & Ramsay, neither of whom could be reached for comment.

Ramsey represented the alleged victim when he was prosecuted for sexting-related offenses prior to the hazing incident.

Kenneth A. Roos, solicitor for the school district, released the following statement by email:

“As always and in accordance with student and employee privacy rights under the law, details related to specific student and staff matters

will remain confidential. The District stands by the statements made in the District’s March 17, 2016 letter to the community. Beyond that, we cannot comment

on this pending litigation.”

The complaint also cites the school district’s own internal investigation into the hazing on the football team, which determined hazing activities did take place.

It also mentions the alleged sodomy, an allegation missing from the joint statement released by Hogan

and the counsel for the defendants in the hazing case.

However, several new specific examples of hazing that had reportedly occurred in the locker room were mentioned in the complaint. Along with the assertion that the former coaches knew hazing was

occurring and did nothing to stop the activities.

This contrasts with Hogan’s initial news conference, where he said he believed the coaches were unaware of hazing activities.

In one example, the alleged victim reportedly refused to put another, halfnaked, player’s compression

shorts on the player when ordered to do so.

The complaint describes the coaches’ alleged decision as “appalling,” and further states that because of the their decision to avoid the locker room, the alleged victim has suffered from “... severe mental anguish, humiliation, severe emotional

distress…” to name a few.

The case was filed in the United States District Court for the eastern district of Pennsylvania.