‘You got fat.’ Coach shames high school player after COVID hospitalization, lawsuit says
When a high school football player walked on the field after a COVID-19 infection put him in a hospital — where he was placed on a breathing machine — one of his coaches shamed him for his weight in front of his teammates in New Jersey, according to a lawsuit.
“Man you got fat; what have you been doing? You need to lose weight,” the coach told the player who spent nearly 10 days in the hospital after he was admitted to the ICU, a complaint states.
This is one of several “abusive comments” an assistant coach made toward the student, who is clinically obese, during his freshman and sophomore years at Lacey Township High School in Lanoka Harbor, according to the lawsuit filed in late June.
Now his parents are suing the school district and its board of education for “failing to prevent, stop and correct the harassment and retaliation” the player suffered from coaches, the complaint states.
The student, who still attends Lacey Township High School, was previously diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and anxiety, which affects his ability to control his weight, according to the lawsuit.
McClatchy News contacted the school district superintendent and board of education for comment on Sept. 9 and was awaiting a response.
Beginning in 2020 until 2022, the complaint says three coaches harassed and discriminated against the player over his medical conditions in connection with his weight.
During his sophomore year and the 2021 football season, the assistant coach’s unwanted comments about the player’s weight became “more aggressive and demeaning,” causing him anxiety, the complaint states.
These comments, made in front of the team, included “‘Look at you, lose weight’ and, ‘look at how fat you got,’” according to the complaint.
On Aug. 12, 2021, the student’s mother spoke with another coach about the comments, and said her son “had been working hard to control his weight,” but the medications he was prescribed made it difficult for him to do so, the complaint states.
The next day, the assistant coach called the player “fat” again, according to the lawsuit.
As a result, the player’s dad called another coach, who promised that he would have the assistant coach keep a distance from his son going forward, the complaint says. But the assistant coach did not do so.
After the student’s COVID-19 hospitalization from Sept. 12-21 of that year, the assistant coach’s “abusive comments continued” into the season, according to the lawsuit.
The parents continued to complain to the coaches and the school, but the harassment did not stop even though the other coaches and school officials were aware of it, the complaint states.
One one occasion, after the head coach promised the student’s father that the assistant coach would not interact with their child, the head coach instructed the player to help the assistant coach put away his equipment, according to the complaint.
“The abuse, the retaliation for reporting the abuse, and the continuing fear of being forced to interact with (the assistant coach) who remains connected to the Lacey Football program and other sports at the school, has left (the student) in a constant and debilitating state of anxiety and fear,” the complaint states.
Though the lawsuit was filed in June, it is garnering attention after NJ.com, the Asbury Park Press and Patch.com first reported on it on Sept. 8.
“(The student) who has played football for many years prior to high school has a deep desire to continue to play high school football, and a desire to make the varsity squad … does not want to play football this coming year at Lacey Township High School because of the harassment and retaliation he has suffered,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit, filed in Ocean County Superior Court, is seeking to have the school prevent “medical disability based harassment” going forward and a trial by jury.
Lanoka Harbor is roughly 50 miles southeast of Trenton.
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 1:01 PM with the headline "‘You got fat.’ Coach shames high school player after COVID hospitalization, lawsuit says."
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