Ex-cheerleader drops lawsuit vs. Northwestern - ESPN

A federal lawsuit alleging sex trafficking and forced labor against Northwestern University and four employees, including former athletic director Mike Polisky, has been dropped by the plaintiff, a former cheerleader at the school.

Attorneys representing Hayden Richardson on Monday filed a stipulation to dismiss with prejudice.

Richardson, a member of the cheer squad from 2018 to 2020, filed the lawsuit against the school in January 2021, alleging she and others experienced groping and sexually charged comments from fans and alumni at tailgates and donor events. The lawsuit alleged Northwestern and several employees, including Polisky, then the deputy athletic director, and spirit squad coordinator Pamela Bonnevier, ignored complaints by Richardson and other cheer squad members. A status hearing in the case had been set for Oct. 8.

Polisky was promoted to athletic director in May 2021 but resigned under pressure nine days later, following backlash from media and protests in and around campus. He has been working in the sports industry for a company in Chicago but hasn't returned to college athletics.

«This was a life-stopping event that I had absolutely no control over, even though we all knew the truth,» Polisky told ESPN on Wednesday. «This was not some sort of outcome that is a surprise, but I'm very sad. I lost an absolutely dream job at a wonderful place, and it's time for me to be able to move past this. I'm at least appreciative of that opportunity.»

Polisky served as Northwestern's top deputy athletic director from 2010 until his resignation, and was long seen as the successor to Jim Phillips, who left to become ACC commissioner. Polisky developed the athletic department's marketing slogan, «Chicago's Big Ten