Three University of San Francisco (USF) Baseball student-athletes filed a class-action lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), USF, and two USF coaches, Nino Giarratano and Troy Nakamura, alleging a long-standing history of abuse of student-athletes by the coaches, ranging from inappropriate yelling and humiliation to wildly sexualized behavior as a routine intimidation tactic, including sexualized exercises and nudity on the field.
The complaint includes allegations that the NCAA failed to protect the student-athletes from sexual abuse and harassment, and also failed to create and enforce prohibitions of sexual contact between coaches and student-athletes.
In addition to the litany of abuses by the coaches, the complaint also details multiple attempts made by parents and others to demand the Jesuit university to step in to protect the student-athletes from ongoing abuse, only to have the school administration repeatedly ignore calls for assistance.
The 113-page complaint also cites records that show that of the 17 recruits in the 2020 USF baseball class, eight have transferred and two more are attempting to transfer, a 60 percent attrition rate. The national average for baseball student-athletes entering the transfer portal is 2 percent.
The lawsuit details how the sexualized abuse and bullying was so profound that many of the student-athletes became severely depressed, affecting their ability to study, and, in at least one student, was so extreme that the stress of the abuse created health issues leading to five emergency room visits. Others sought support from a range of mental health professionals.
The complaint details two instances, the most recent in November 2021, in which a coach dropped his pants in view of players on the field and gyrated his hips to spin his penis. This is in addition to a third instance where a coach put on a “skit” and pretended to be at a buffet, and told a player to do a handstand, then grabbed the player’s legs and mimed eating spaghetti out of the player’s genital area. Further instances include coaches screaming profanities at public games so foul that parents of the opposing team reported the event.
The lawsuit, filed by the law firms FeganScott and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that the NCAA facilitated the coaches’ behavior by not implementing rules or imposing sanctions that would require member schools to take steps to prevent abuse by coaches, to force the school administrative faculty to pay attention to the complaints that do get made and to deter the perpetrators.
The lawsuit includes further allegations that the NCAA’s failure to prohibit sexual abuse contributed to threatening environments at its member institutions. Allegations against the coaches include verbal abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation, and public shaming.
Shortly after the lawsuit (Case No. 22-1559), was filed, Giarratano was fired.
FeganScott issued the following statement:
“The University of San Francisco’s removal of Coach Giarratano is a positive first step to safeguarding the student-athletes that remain in the program, but it does little to address the harm he and his assistant coach inflicted on those placed in the school’s care. It also does nothing to address the systemic institutional failures at USF that allowed this abuse to continue unabated despite complaints up to and including to the Athletic Director and Title IX office. If USF’s administration takes an honest look, they will realize the extent of the damages caused not just by the coaches but by their own shocking lack of oversight.
“This is yet another example of what happens because the NCAA disavows responsibility to its student-athletes and leaves it to the schools to police their own. Case in point: calls by parents to USF’s Athletic Director and Title IX office went unaddressed until after we filed suit. We will continue to see cases like this swept under the rug until the NCAA owns up to its responsibility to student-athletes everywhere.
“USF has shown that it cannot adequately address these issues. We have already heard from former players who experienced extreme levels of emotional abuse and sexualized misconduct by the coaches. By bringing the voices of players together, we can make change. If you experienced abuse or were exposed to sexual misconduct by the coaches, we encourage you to contact FeganScott and Lieff Cabraser to share your experience.”
