A female kicker has sued Allegheny College in federal court, claiming the coach ignored her sexual harassment complaint involving a teammate’s behavior and subsequently kicked her off the team because of the complaint.
Plaintiff Samantha Simonetta joined the team in January of 2018 with much fanfare as the school newspaper highlighted her achievement. However, a month later, she reported that she had been sexually harassed by a teammate, who “inappropriately” touched her, “going so far as trying to kiss her without her consent,” according to the complaint. “Ultimately, this teammate attempted to pull Ms. Simonetta into his dormitory room, but he was unsuccessful.”
Simonetta said she reported the behavior to assistant coach Curtis Bailey, who allegedly promised that he would report the behavior to head coach B.J. Hammer.
In August of that year, the plaintiff was suspended from the team, reportedly for academic reasons.
“It became clear to Ms. Simonetta that the football coaching staff had deliberately elected not to proceed with an investigation, opting instead to ‘resolve’ the issue by forcing her off the football team,” according to her complaint.
Both Hammer and Bailey were named as defendants as was Allegheny College, Athletic Director Bill Ross, and others.
In addition to the claims of negligence, interference with contractual relations and infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff also invoked Title IX in her complaint, noting that “none of the defendants took the appropriate steps to investigate the allegations as required by Title IX.”
