Former Northwestern Volleyball Player Harassed, Hazed: Lawsuit

EVANSTON, IL — The first non-football lawsuit filed by a former Northwestern University athlete in connection with widespread hazing allegations claims that university officials allowed a culture in which student-athletes were subjected to hazing, sexual and physical abuse, as well as racial discrimination and other acts meant to dehumanize athletes.

The suit, which was filed on Monday by a former member of Northwestern’s volleyball team, claims that the plaintiff — identified only as Jane Doe I — was part of a program that had “longstanding issues” involving hazing, harassment and retaliation.

The suit names Northwestern volleyball coach Shane Davis — along with current athletic director Derrick Gragg, former athletic director Jim Phillips and other university officials, including Northwestern President Michael Schill, former President Morton Shapiro and the school's Board of Trustees.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges negligence, willful and wanton conduct, negligent retention and supervision, willful and wanton retention and supervision, and fraudulent inducement against school officials.

“Jane Doe 1’s case is an example of how an enabled culture and an enabled coach had become accustomed to practices of hazing and abuse for years, if not decades,” Attorney Patrick Salvi II said in a statement. “We see in Jane Doe 1’s story how hazing and abuse causes physical and emotional harm. Her story is sadly not uncommon, and it permeates across sports, men, and women, and across campuses.

“Here, we have a university where many brave young men and women are standing up for themselves, and we hope it’s a sign of things to come, where student-athletes are not abused in the pursuit of wins for the school but treated like the human beings they are.”

The former player, who was a member of the volleyball program from 2019-23, says Davis harassed or bullied Northwestern players and “used a racial tone” and bragged about his harassment and bullying of players on former teams.

The suit alleges that Davis created a program called “Coach On One” in which he “blasted” volleyballs at players across the gym and that player had to repeatedly run and hit the ball, the suit says, while the rest of the players and coaches watched. The suit alleges that the purpose of the hazing was to humiliate the player.

Select players would be forced to run in front of the team for “minor rule infractions” not for physical fitness, the suit says, but instead, to harass or humiliate the player. The suit says that Davis encouraged and permitted team captains to lead the punishments against other players.

In 2020, the program created a guideline for COVID-19 restrictions in which the team agreed to abide by an effort to reduce COVID-19 exposure. The suit says that in February 2021, the team’s activities were temporarily paused after the plaintiff tested positive for the virus. After returning to the team, the plaintiff says she followed the program’s COVID-19 guidelines.

But in March, she claims Davis threatened to terminate her scholarship if her performance did not improve. After that conversation, she claims that Davis and a Northwestern assistant coach allowed captains to pick Jane Doe I’s “punishment” which the complaint says entailed running suicides, a type of running drill, while diving on the floor every time she reached a line.

She said she sustained physical injuries while carrying out “the punishment” and that fell under hazing under the school’s anti-hazing rules, the complaint says.

On March 3, 2021, the university launched a hazing investigation within the volleyball program, which, the plaintiff said, should have made school officials aware of hazing allegations. Following the investigation, Jane Doe I says that Davis — who was signed to a contract extension — retaliated against her and refused to "properly" coach her.

She says she was forced to write a letter of apology to training staff and was not permitted to travel with the team. She said that she met with Gragg about the culture of the volleyball team and that he was aware of allegations of hazing and humiliation within the program, as were other members of the school's athletic department, the complaint says.

The plaintiff claims she was under “social and financial pressure” to remain on scholarship before deciding in December 2022 to medically retire from playing volleyball. She said it wasn’t until she announced her retirement from the sport that the harassment and retaliation finally stopped.

In a statement issued Monday, Schill called the recent weeks “difficult and challenging” and said that the hazing allegations that led to the firing of football coach Pat Fitzgerald and that have resulted in multiple lawsuits “have placed us and our athletic program in a national spotlight”.

“I have read and heard broad condemnations of our athletic program in articles, social media, and press conferences,” Schill wrote. “The picture painted by some of these commentators of our program, our student-athletes, and the University itself is entirely inconsistent with the Northwestern we all know and love.

“While there is no doubt in my mind that shameful events did take place in the football program, I also know that the vast majority of our student-athletes — in football and in our other 18 (Division I) teams — are people of character who do amazing things both on the field and in the classroom. I am proud of them.”

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