Former baseball player sues Seton Hall University, coach, over hazing claims
According to the complaint obtained by News 12, the plaintiff was 17 years old at the time and was recruited to the Division I Pirates out of Long Island.
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Seton Hall University has been sued by a former student-athlete alleging hazing, abuse and misconduct by his baseball teammates and negligence on the part of the coach.
According to the complaint obtained by News 12, the plaintiff was 17 years old at the time and was recruited to the Division I Pirates out of Long Island.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in New York federal court, is against Seton Hall University, head baseball coach Rob Sheppard and three members of the team.
The complaint alleges that the plaintiff was subject to sexual and physical abuse that resulted in physical and emotional harm and eventually led to him leaving the team.
It claims the university violated Title IX and New Jersey’s anti-hazing law with gender-based harassment.
This included sexual taunting, lewd acts by teammates and threats to perform the same, drinking-based initiation and forcing the plaintiff to wrestle with an older teammate - which the plaintiff claims left him scarred and spitting blood.
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff and his father both told the coach about this, who said it would stop, but it never did.
“He has suffered physical injuries,” said personal injury attorney Mark Shirian. “He suffered emotional and mental injuries. With respect to this, it's also derailed his athletic career and it's derailed his educational career. He dropped out of Seton Hall and had to matriculate into a Division III school and it's just not on the same track that he would have been.”
News 12 received a statement from a university spokesperson about the lawsuit.
“Seton Hall is firmly committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment. Upon learning of certain allegations earlier this year, the University promptly retained a nationally respected third-party investigator to conduct an independent and thorough review. As litigation is ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this time,” the statement read.
The plaintiff is seeking a minimum $1 million award and a requirement of Seton Hall to implement anti-hazing training, among other relief.
