WORCESTER (MA)
MassLive
By John F. Hill, MassLive.com
on October 16, 2013
The suit, brought by former player Ashley Cooper, claims Gibbons bullied players, at times striking them. The coach often violently shook players by the shoulders while admonishing them, the suit says.
“Defendant Gibbons repeatedly and violently yanked and pulled plaintiff Cooper by her shirt collar and strongly squeezed the back of her neck causing pain while barking instructions in her face at close range,” the suit says.
The suit claims that Gibbons hit Cooper during a January 2012 game against Brown University, leaving a red handprint on her back. The suit also claims Gibbons hit another, unnamed player during a game at Lehigh University in 2013.
Holy Cross has not turned over video from either game to Cooper’s attorney, Elizabeth Eilender, the suit claims.
(Read an interview with Eilender.)
A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court claims Holy Cross women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons routinely abused his players verbally, emotionally and physically.
The suit names Holy Cross, Gibbons, athletic director Richard Regan Jr., and associate athletic director Ann Zelesky as defendants.
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