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Former Nebraska Students, Athlete Named in Federal Lawsuit Against NCAA

By News Apr 30, 2020 | 6:55 AM

Seven women, including former Nebraska students and a student-athlete, are among the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the NCAA. The lawsuit alleges the organization failed to protect them from alleged sexual assaults by male college athletes.

One of the named plaintiffs, former Husker volleyball player Capri Davis, says part of her decision to transfer was the the university’s handling of her report on two now former Nebraska football players who groped her without consent at a party and did the same to her friend who is an unnamed plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Although not named in the lawsuit, according to an ESPN report, the description of the football players matches that of Katerian LeGrone and Andre Hunt. The two have since been expelled from the university for sexual misconduct and have criminal charges pending.

Davis also details how “media and communications staff at [Nebraska] advised Davis that she should address the pregnancy rumors,” which had circulated after she took a medical leave of absence from the team. The lawsuit says no one offered to investigate the sexual harassment related to the rumor or support for dealing with the resulting fallout.

Another named plaintiff, former UNL student Sheridan Thomas, reported being raped by a football player in 2015 to administrators and Title IX investigators. Thomas says she was denied assistance for withdrawing from a class unless she agreed to opening a formal investigation. Once she did a couple months later, the resulting investigation found the male athlete had not violated university policy, but according to the lawsuit the investigation did not include Thomas’ witnesses being interviewed, did include factual errors, and some information was omitted.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, also involves sexual assaults by male athletes at Michigan State and an unnamed American East Conference school, and is seeking a jury trial.