By John T. Wendt, J.D., M.A., Professor Emeritus, Ethics and Business Law – University of St. Thomas
Three Butler University women’s soccer players have filed separate federal lawsuits against the school’s former athletic trainer Michael Howell, Butler’s senior associate athletic director for Student-Athlete Health, Performance and Well-Being Ralph Reiff, and Butler University itself, for negligence, gross negligence, battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Howell was employed at Butler from the Spring of 2012 to October of 2021. While at Butler Howell worked with Women’s Soccer, Men’s and Women’s Golf, Baseball, Men’s Tennis and Cheerleading. The soccer student-athletes allege that they were sexually assaulted and/or groomed and illicitly and surreptitiously photographed and videotaped. The Jane Doe1 Complaint also alleges that instead of proper treatment Howell routinely gave athletes multiple hour full body massages and committed sexual misconduct on Ms. Doe and other athletes and did so at inappropriate locations including his private hotel room and offices with no windows.[1]
In the complaint Ms. Doe 1 states that she was an accomplished high school student-athlete yet did not have much experience with athletic trainers before she attended Butler. On her recruiting trip she heard Butler soccer players talking about Howell and “The Breeze” but did not ask what it meant. Later Ms. Doe 1 discovered that it referred to Howell’s routine exposure of female student-athletes’ intimate body parts, i.e., “Howell would lift their bras, spandex, and underwear and air would rush over their breasts and vaginal areas.”[2] Because of a lack of education and training and her limited experience on her recruiting trip, Ms. Doe 1 alleges that she believed that it was normal practice for Howell to move her underwear. The complaint alleges that neither Defendant Reiff nor Butler provided female student-athletes such as Ms. Doe 1 proper training and education regarding appropriate athletic treatment protocols.[3]
Complaint 1 alleges the Reiff and other coaches “never inquired, investigated, raised questions about the safety of the female athletes, or implemented or followed safety protocols.”[4] The complaint also alleges that Howell blackmailed Ms. Doe 1 and others claiming that he had files of soccer players engaged in underage drinking that he could use. According to the complaint, Howell said, “I know everything about you…If I go down, I’m taking you with me.”[5]
In her complaint Jane Doe 2 reiterates many of the allegations including that he sexually assaulted her for at least three years and also subjected her to “The Breeze” many times. Ms. Doe 2 alleges that the coaches knew that Howell provided “treatment” to the female student-athletes in his private hotel room instead of the conference room. She also claims that the coaches were not given the proper protocols on safety standards for athletic trainers by defendants Reiff or Butler. But Ms. Doe 2 also notes that the coaches never questioned, confronted, or entered Howell’s room when he treated the student-athletes.[6]
Ms. Doe 2 also alleges gross negligence on the part of defendants Reiff and Butler by leaving Howell unsupervised and unmonitored posing an “unjustifiably high risk of harming the female student-athletes entrusted to his care.”[7] She also alleges Reiff and Butler should have known given the highly publicized abuse trials and reports of Larry Nassar, Robert Anderson, Richard Strauss.
Ms. Doe 3 again reiterated many of the same allegations, including sexual assault. When Ms. Doe 3 complained of lower back pain she alleges that Howell, instead of using heat and stim pads that worked successfully in the past, gave Ms. Doe 3 an inappropriate full body massage with cocoa butter and included “The Breeze” treatment.[8]
In September 2021, four women’s soccer players reported Howell’s sexual misconduct to one of their coaches who conveyed it to then-Title IX coordinator Maria Kanger. On October 6, 2021, Howell was placed on administrative leave, and a formal Title IX complaint was filed against him. Butler went on to retain independent counsel and after a five-month investigation it was found “that Howell had sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, and stalked Ms. Doe, in violation of Butler’s sexual misconduct policies.”[9] And it was reported that the Panel found that “Butler had no written policies or procedures regarding proper athletic trainer conduct, setting boundaries with athletes, or working with athletes of the opposite sex.”[10]
Butler sent an email to students and families notifying them of the lawsuits and the actions that Butler was taking: “The health, safety, and well-being of our campus community is always our top priority. In late September 2021, student-athletes on the women’s soccer team reported misconduct by Michael Howell, an assistant athletic trainer. Upon being informed of the allegations, the University promptly notified law enforcement, removed Howell from campus, and suspended him from his job duties, pending further investigation. After a thorough investigation and hearing, the trainer was found responsible for violating University policies, and he was then terminated in summer 2022. Butler looks forward to the opportunity to show the high integrity and responsiveness of the coaches and senior personnel. Because the complaints do not name the plaintiffs and they have not waived federal student privacy protections, Butler is limited from further comment outside of the legal process.”[11]
At the end of the Introduction of all three complaints, the plaintiffs allege that “This action is brought by Ms. Doe to recover her injuries and damages, compel Butler to institute safety protocols to protect her current teammates and future athletes, compel Butler to contact former student-athletes to assess whether they were also abused by Howell and need resources and assistance, prevent Howell from maintaining licensure that would give him the ability to abuse others, and to hold Defendants responsible for their acts and omissions that enabled a dangerous predator to gain unfettered access to and abuse her and many other young female athletes.”[12]
In their Prayer for Relief the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages for medical bills and counseling, psychological pain and suffering, and other costs for care as well as punitive damages. The plaintiffs are represented by Monica Beck and Doug Fierberg from The Fierberg National Law Group, PLLC and Cohen & Malad, LLP. Joining them as counsel is Rachael Denhollander, who was the first woman to publicly come forward with allegations against Larry Nassar.
[1] Compl., Doe1 v. Butler, No. 1:23-cv-01302-JRS-MKK, (S.D. Ind., July 26, 2023), https://tfnlgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/1-Complaint-Jane-Doe-1.pdf.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Compl., Doe2 v. Butler, No. 1:23-cv-01303-JRS-MKK, (S.D. Ind., July 26, 2023), https://tfnlgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/1-Complaint-Jane-Doe-2.pdf.
[7] Id.
[8] Compl., Doe3 v. Butler, No. 1:23-cv-01306-JRS-MKK, (S.D. Ind., July 26, 2023), https://tfnlgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/1-Complaint-Jane-Doe-3.pdf.
[9] Alison Miccolis, Three Butler Women’s Soccer Players Allege Sexual Abuse by Former Athletic Trainer, Sue the University, The Butler Collegian (2023), https://thebutlercollegian.com/2023/07/three-butler-womens-soccer-players-allege-sexual-abuse-by-former-athletic-trainer-sue-the-university/ (last visited Aug 2, 2023).
[10] Id.
[11] Butler University, Notice, (2023), https://view.engagement.butler.edu/?qs=888ef25c622c8d37ae9da0bcb0330b594462e7201a680c964252c770f6d597a5c9d539dc1f2313dc6538ca0e0192594e702e57d0e6114ecde298945125e098f310f2dd06e87b3876b0b2f9888ee5a5b9 (last visited Aug 6, 2023).
[12] Compl., Doe1 v. Butler, No. 1:23-cv-01302-JRS-MKK, (S.D. Ind., July 26, 2023), supra note 1.
