John and Jane Doe v. Maine Township High School District 207
This is a tort action brought by five current and former students at Maine West High School in Des Plaines, Ill. All five students were subjected to physical and sexual assault while members of Maine West High School sports teams (soccer and baseball) as part of hazing rituals which were ordered and witnessed by several coaches.
Pursuant to this ritual, four of the students were “rewarded” for making the varsity boys’ soccer team in the following ways: more senior members of the team grabbed the boys, forced them down to the ground, then repeatedly struck them on their arms, legs, head, and torso, tore off their pants and underwear, grabbed their testicles, and sodomized them with their fingers and other foreign objects.
Another student was similarly “rewarded” for making the varsity boys’ baseball team in the following ways: more senior members of the team grabbed him, tore off his pants and underwear on at least ten different occasions to the point of exposing his penis and testicles, and verbally abused him, often threatening to harm him. School officials have allegedly known about the hazing ritual for years but did nothing to stop it.
On November 7, 2016, the school board agree to pay $1 million to settle the lawsuit.
