Ex-Northwestern volleyballer suing over response to hazing - ESPN

A former Northwestern volleyball player filed a lawsuit Monday morning in Illinois claiming that the school and its athletic department were negligent in response to an alleged hazing incident that occurred in the spring of 2021.

The player, who filed her lawsuit anonymously, says she was injured while running sprints as part of a «punishment» sanctioned by head coach Shane Davis, and that Davis «enabled a culture of racism, bullying, harassment, hazing and retaliation» within Northwestern's volleyball program. Davis is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit along with the school's two most recent presidents and three most recent athletic directors.

Her lawyers, Parker Stinar and Patrick Salvi, filed multiple lawsuits on behalf of Northwestern football players last week in the wake of the school firing football coach Pat Fitzgerald due to hazing accusations. They say they have spoken to athletes who played a variety of sports at the school, including football, volleyball, baseball and softball. Stinar said the experience of those athletes shows the pattern of a pervasive, school-wide problem with hazing in its athletic department.

«Jane Doe's complaint outlines the institutional failures at Northwestern beyond the volleyball and football programs, shedding light of a corrupt athletic department,» Stinar said in a statement provided to ESPN on Monday morning.

A spokesman for the university did not respond Monday morning to questions about the alleged incident.

The volleyball player attended Northwestern from 2019 through 2023, according to the lawsuit. She said that she contracted COVID in February 2021 and the coaches decided to punish her for breaking the team's COVID safety guidelines. She says she followed the