MURFREESBORO – A federal jury has ruled in favor of the Rutherford County Board of Education on five of six claims from a family regarding their daughters being kicked off the Siegel High girls basketball team after complaints of hazing.
The lawsuit was filed in in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville, charging a violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972. Judge Aleta Traugher presided over the jury trial, which began Oct. 1 and ended with the verdict Oct. 8.
Three minors, whose names were replaced by pseudonyms during the federal court proceedings to protect their identities, said they were sexually assaulted by a basketball teammate in 2012, the initial court filing said. The family requested a jury trial.
Three of the claims were for alleged sexual harassment under Title IX and three claims were for alleged retaliation. The jury found in favor of the school district in five of the six claims, county schools officials confirmed.
In the last claim of retaliation, the jury found in favor of the plaintiff and awarded damages of $1.
“Rutherford County Schools is overwhelmingly pleased with the verdict in the matter,” district spokesman James Evans said.
Because the case involves minors, trial documents are sealed by the federal government.
At least two of the girls who said they were inappropriately touched were removed from the team, according to the initial filing. Their parents said the family was subsequently discriminated against because they complained about the incident.
Court documents show that the school board agreed offensive touching took place during one occasion, but said it was not necessarily sexual in nature and that the student responsible was reprimanded.
The team member did receive some discipline for “goosing” the other three players or poking them between the buttocks. Law enforcement authorities did not charge her with any criminal activity, Evans said previously, as they could not determine validity of the claims.
The Board of Education maintains that the girls who were removed from the team had repeatedly skipped practice. One of them cleaned out her locker and expressed her intention to quit, according to court documents.
Contact Mealand Ragland-Hudgins at 615-278-5189 or mragland@dnj.com. Follow her on Twitter @dnj_mrhudgins.
