Fourteen former athletes from North Carolina State University have instigated legal action, accusing their ex-head trainer of mistreatment.
NC State is facing a new lawsuit, with fourteen former male athletes accusing the university's former director of sports medicine, Robert Murphy Jr., of sexual abuse and harassment. The lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court on Wednesday evening, includes twelve "John Doe" plaintiffs to protect their anonymity, as well as two former men's soccer players.
The allegations date back to 2012 and span several years, with the lawsuit detailing improper touching and intrusive observation by Murphy. The suit claims that his conduct was known to senior athletics officials, including former athletic director Debbie Yow and former chancellor Randy Woodson, but no substantive action was taken.
The lawsuit alleges that former men's soccer coach Kelly Findley raised concerns after the 2012 season and wanted Murphy removed as the team's trainer. Findley reportedly told a senior athletics official in February 2016 that Murphy was engaging in grooming behavior.
Murphy was placed on administrative leave in January 2022 amid a Title IX investigation tied to Benjamin Locke, one of the named athletes in the lawsuit. Locke's 2022 lawsuit stated that Murphy's observation methods while collecting drug-testing samples were "unsettling and undignified," with athletes exposed from calves to chest and sometimes with Murphy standing closely in the same bathroom stall.
The Title IX investigation ultimately found "a violation would have been substantiated via the preponderance of the evidence standard" if Murphy remained, according to a letter to Locke from the school's Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.
Two other athletes filed their own federal lawsuits in February and April 2023. Durham-based attorney Kerry Sutton, who has represented plaintiffs in all four lawsuits, filed to dismiss pending Title IX lawsuits and move the case to state-level jurisdiction.
N.C. State won't comment on the pending litigation. The federal appeals court in January reversed the dismissal of the "John Doe 2" lawsuit, determining that Findley's comment was "objectively" an allegation qualifying as notification to school officials.
Besides NC State, the search results do not provide information about other institutions previously accused by the athletes in the new lawsuit. Seth Blum, who has represented Murphy, stated that Murphy has been falsely accused.
The lawsuit also alleges that Murphy's senior athletics official reassigned him to other teams in 2013, but he resumed working with the soccer team the next year in what the lawsuit calls "a self-directed return." The school's successor later instructed Murphy multiple times from 2016-21 to stop treating male athletes or hanging around the soccer team, and instead focus on administrative duties.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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