SPOKANE, Wash – Attorneys representing two families of boys hazed during summer football camp say the Mead School District should pay the families nearly $50 million in damages.
Attorney Marcus Sweetser laid out the amount during closing arguments in the civil trial Thursday morning.
The case stems from incidents involving Mead High School football players. At a camp held at Eastern Washington University, the two boys were held down and had a massage gun placed in their genital area.
Despite knowing about the incident and videos circulating of what happened, the football coach and the school district didn’t act for months, violating state mandatory reporting laws.
A judge has already ruled the school district failed to act in a timely manner. The judge also ruled both boys were discriminated against, one for race and both for gender.
At issue now is how much, if anything, the district should pay in damages.
Sweetser told the jury they should award $19.5 million to each boy and $1.95 million to each parent.
Throughout the trial, the families have testified the boys’ behavior changed dramatically after the incident, saying they were withdrawn and anxious. Both teens transferred to other schools.
The superintendent also acknowledged altering a report on the incident, removing information about racial motivation for the incidents. The superintendent said he did so on the advice of the district’s attorney.
After the plaintiffs’ closing statements Thursday, the school district’s attorney asked the judge to declare a mistrial. He said the families’ attorney violated court rules by asking the jury to put themselves in the shoes of the victims. The defense also said the families’ attorney should not have been allowed to say things like “get back at” or “punish” the district.
The judge denied the request for the mistrial.
In closing statements, the district’s attorney said the actual incident wasn’t as bad as it’s been made out to be. He also argued that after transfering to other schools, the boys played football and did fine in school, saying their personal doctors did not notice signs of PTSD.
The attorney also argued that some of their symptoms and behaviors were typical of teenage boys.
The football players accused in the case are not named in this civil lawsuit, but their families are named in a federal sex discrimination lawsuit, which also names the Mead School District and Eastern Washington University.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office recommended the boys be charged with fourth degree assault, but because they were juveniles, this was the first offense and the charge was a misdemeanor, state law requires they be sent through a diversion program instead of facing criminal charges.
Closing arguments were expected to wrap up Thursday morning or early afternoon, then the case will go to the jury.
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