MEAD, Wash. – The Mead School District is facing another lawsuit tied to alleged hazing of student-athletes. At least four families are suing the District, citing racial discrimination, sexual assault and humiliation. This lawsuit comes after a Mead High School football player came forward with allegations of assault by fellow teammates while at a summer football camp. The lawsuit claims negligence, unlawful discrimination and failure to report abuse at the hands of the District. According to the documents, the lawsuit describes how in both 2022 and 2023, several white football players allegedly stripped down and assaulted three Black student athletes with battery-powered massage guns. Additionally, one other Black student-athlete was threatened. In 2023, the incidents were filmed and shared online. Over the coming months, students endured intimidation and racial slurs, such as being called “monkeys.” When a white student spoke out against the conduct during the 2023 camp, the documents allege, he was assaulted with a massage gun. His family filed a separate lawsuit. The families suing in this recent suit accuse the Mead School District of turning a blind eye to the sexual assaults and claim that Black students were specifically targeted. Throughout the suit, it is repeatedly alleged that District staff knew about the discrimination and the assaults but did nothing to stop it. NonStop Local spoke over the phone with Marcus Sweetser, one of the attorneys representing some of the victims. He told NonStop Local that this case is about a “pervasive culture of indifference” within the District. NonStop Local is actively reaching out to the Mead School District, which was closed Monday in observance of Veterans Day. However, in July, the superintendent did release a statement following similar allegations: “Decisions regarding legal strategy and any comment on the allegations in the complaint are at the discretion of attorneys representing the district. Our attorneys have asked that we allow the facts to come forward in the context of the litigation.”
