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09/18 11:44 CDT 14 former NC State athletes have filed a lawsuit alleging abuse
by ex-head trainer
14 former NC State athletes have filed a lawsuit alleging abuse by ex-head
trainer
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) --- Fourteen former N.C. State male athletes have filed a
civil lawsuit in state court alleging sexual abuse under the guise of treatment
and harassment by the Wolfpack's former director of sports medicine, expanding
a case that began with a federal lawsuit from a single athlete three years ago.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday evening in Wake County Superior Court alleges years
of misconduct by Robert Murphy Jr., including improper touching of the genitals
during massages and intrusive observation while collecting urine samples during
drug testing.
Murphy, who was at N.C. State from 2012-22, is among the nine defendants named
individually. The others are school officials accused of negligence in their
oversight roles in preventing it or adequately responding to concerns raised to
them about Murphy's conduct.
Twelve athletes are "John Doe" plaintiffs to protect anonymity, while two
former men's soccer players are named. One is Benjamin Locke, who filed the
original complaint in August 2022. Two other athletes had followed with their
own federal lawsuits in February and April 2023. The Associated Press typically
doesn't identify those who say they have been sexually assaulted or abused
unless the person has spoken publicly, which Locke has done.
Durham-based attorney Kerry Sutton, who has represented plaintiffs in the
previous and new lawsuits, filed to dismiss those pending Title IX lawsuits
before moving the case to state-level jurisdiction --- though now with 11
additional plaintiffs.
The new lawsuit outlines similar allegations in terms of Murphy's conduct and
the school's response, including that concerns about Murphy reached former
athletic director Debbie Yow and other senior athletics officials but nothing
substantive was done to prevent misconduct or Murphy continuing to work with
athletes.
"These 14 athletes have come forward together hoping to encourage others abused
by Rob Murphy to see it wasn't just them, they did nothing wrong, and NCSU
should have protected them," Sutton said in a statement.
"A culture of fear in the NCSU athletics department led to this tragic set of
circumstances. Athletes afraid of losing their scholarship or their spot on the
team, trainers afraid of reporting their boss, coaches afraid of getting
involved, directors afraid of harming NCSU's reputation. Murphy took advantage
of those fears to get away with abusing what we believe may turn out to be
hundreds of former Wolfpack athletes."
Jared Hammett, a Raleigh-based attorney working with Murphy in the earlier
cases, didn't immediately return messages from the AP requesting comment
Thursday. An attorney who previously worked with Murphy said in 2022 that
Murphy offered "appropriate" medical procedures but "nothing that was ever of a
sexual nature."
Beyond Murphy, defendants include: Yow, who retired in 2019; former chancellor
Randy Woodson; and current AD Boo Corrigan. N.C. State spokesman Mick
Kulikowski said in an email Thursday the school doesn't comment on pending
litigation in response to a request for comment. Yow declined to comment,
deferring to the school, in a text message to the AP.
___
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