Western Kentucky athletic directors and the former staff of its suspended swimming & diving program are seeking dismissal of the lawsuit filed by a former swimmer who claims he was severely hazed by teammates.
WKU athletic director Todd Stewart, two associate athletic directors at the school and the former coaches of the program – all defendants in the hazing suit – filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The 33-page motion claims the Western Kentucky staff can’t be held liable for the events that allegedly occurred off-campus, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.
The lawsuit comes from former swimmer Collin Craig, who filed the suit earlier this fall. The university suspended its swimming & diving programs for 5 years in the spring in response to a Title IX investigation into claims of hazing that went ignored by the coaching staff.
Attorney Todd Kerrick is representing the school, and had the following to say in the motion to dismiss:
While the alleged incidents of hazing and harassment detailed in the complaint fall far short of the conduct WKU expects of its students, WKU is under no duty to police its students at all times wherever they might be,” Kerrick said in the argument, filed Wednesday. “To impose such a duty on WKU and its staff – or any other university – would fundamentally change the relationship between the university and its students, removing from the students all semblances of privacy and freedom to grow and mature while attending college.”
