High school allowed sexual abuse of hazed freshman football players, Tennessee suit says

Two Tennessee underclassmen on Daniel Boone High School’s football team said they were told hazing is just what happens to freshmen.

After months of sexual abuse that led to an assault charge against a teammate, the former players are accusing the Washington County Department of Education of “negligence and abject disregard for the welfare of its students.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the two students Aug. 9 in the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greenville, detailing graphic sexual abuse against young football players. The filing says older students hazed the two plaintiffs during the 2022-23 school year.

The lawsuit says the school “did not merely allow a culture of hazing to persist; it tacitly endorsed such behavior, thus establishing an environment ripe for the physical assault, emotional distress and general harassment suffered by two students.”

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into the assault allegations in November 2022, according to a news release from the agency Feb. 9. Investigators eventually charged a team member with two counts of assault-offensive touching and three counts of aggravated assault, the TBI said.

Officials did not release the name of the player who was charged, and it is not confirmed if that player is the the primary assailant named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Daniel Boone High School either knew or should have known the hazing was happening under expectation of reasonable diligence. According to the players, the locker room and the coaches’ offices were “separated by one wall,” and any sort of commotion in the locker room could be heard from the other room.

“Daniel Boone football coaches had notice that the acts of assault, hazing, and bullying alleged herein were taking place within the locker rooms because they could hear them taking place,” the lawsuit says. “Yet, these coaches still failed to take any action to stop these assaults or prevent future assaults.”

According to the filing, other older players were similarly hazed early on, and coaches considered hazing to be a “rite of passage.”

Plaintiffs believe “WCDE had actual knowledge of the hazing and the danger of hazing, taking place within Boone High School in its athletic programs,” according to the suit. “The minor plaintiffs were advised by other students that the overtly sexual hazing they were experiencing was merely part of what a freshman athlete must endure to participate.”

The culture of hazing normalized this kind of behavior, the suit says.

“Other students that were interviewed stated that the hazing ‘happened so much you get used to it’ and that players did not complain to the coaches because it was futile and treated as ‘just a thing to expect from older players,’” according to the filing.

Physical evidence, including a switchblade cut on one boy’s arm and a penis drawn on his face, should have raised flags, the lawsuit says. But it did not, until parents of the two students involved in the lawsuit reached out to the school and filed reports with local deputies and the Department of Child Services.

The lawsuit says the Washington County Department of Education violated Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The suit also says the school violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin.

One of the two students in the suit is of Middle Eastern descent and Muslim faith. The filing says he was harassed and subjected to racist remarks, including being compared to Osama bin Laden, and that the school knew about this bullying.

The suit says the school did not adequately train faculty and staff on policies such as anti-bullying and detecting hazing within athletic programs.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs told McClatchy News they could not offer additional comment on the lawsuit because “the rules in this district are strict.”

The Washington County Department of Education shared a statement with McClatchy News.

“We are aware of the recently filed lawsuit. The local rules of the United States District Court prohibit us from commenting on this matter. Our attorneys will respond to the plaintiffs’ allegations on our behalf.

For our part, the Washington County Board of Education, its administrators, and its faculty and staff are dedicated to providing a safe, secure environment for all of our students. We are continuously working to improve our environment, and this lawsuit does not change that commitment.”

The plaintiffs are seeking damages in an amount to be determined at trial for “past and future pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life,” and other economic and non-economic damages. They are also asking for an end to the “hostile environment” at the school.

This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 4:17 PM with the headline "High school allowed sexual abuse of hazed freshman football players, Tennessee suit says."