By Cadie Carroll
A family is now suing after their 14-year-old son was injured by one of his teammates during a Greece Thunder hockey game last year.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court by attorney Jeffrey Wicks, alleges that New York’s Greece Central School District, hockey coaches and other district officials “allowed and encouraged acts of violence and harassment by older members of the Greece Thunder hockey team directed at younger, weaker, smaller, less skilled and or less favored members of the team.”
The boy is not named in the suit and his parent only identified by the initials M. J. M. He was however named to be a Greece Odyssey Academy student when the incident occurred.
The suit claims that the boy, only 130 pounds, suffered a concussion during an altercation with 17-year-old Tyler Grimshaw, his 6-foot-2, 250 pound teammate, during practice.
In the events leading up to the concussion, reports claim that Grimshaw and the boy had a dispute in the locker room before heading to practice where Grimshaw allegedly slammed the boy into the boards, causing the boy to leave the ice and throw up.
Grimshaw later admitted to striking and shoving the boy and pleaded guilty to a harassment charge tied to the event. He was charged with assault in the third-degree and was ordered to attend anger management classes and a work weekend program.
The family alleges that coach Daniel Webb, assistant coach Erik Geller, and other officials ignored previous patterns of Grimshaw’s violent behavior.
The suit also claims that Webb told the boy he had not suffered a concussion and that he “must have had a pre-existing illness.” The day following the incident a pediatrician diagnosed the boy with a concussion.
His injuries, according to the suit, caused him to miss three weeks of school and subsequently suffer harassment upon his return, leading to anxiety and concentration difficulties.
The exact claims made in the suit are of negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and violations of the boy’s civil rights. The family is seeking $2 million as well as punitive damage and legal fees. The plaintiff’s attorney has yet to comment on the case.
School officials say they have not yet seen the lawsuit, but Greece Central School District Community Relations Manager Laurel Heiden did speak out about the incident. “We are in receipt of a Notice of Claim against the district in regard to the incident that occurred between members of the Thunder Hockey Team in February,” Heiden said. “As is our usual process, we have forwarded the Notice of Claim to our legal counsel for review and cannot comment further.”
