Grand Latrobe School District, former wrestling coaches sued in federal court over hazing allegations

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A student and his parents sued the Grand Latrobe School District, two former wrestling coaches and two students, alleging the boy was assaulted during training.

This is, at least, the second lawsuit filed over allegations of hazing by members of the wrestling team that came to light in January 2020.

The coaches were fired and charged with criminal charges. Last week, a Westmoreland County judge found former coach Cary Lydic not guilty of endangering students and failing to report potential child abuse following a trial without a jury.

Assistant coach David F. Galando enrolled in the accelerated rehabilitation program in October. He was sentenced to a two-year probationary period.

Messages left with the district and Galando’s lawyer were not immediately returned.

Lydic’s attorney, Casey White, said the complaint against his client was without merit.

“As the court could clearly see at trial, the claims that it did not report allegedly harmful activity were unfounded,” White said.

Four students, all 15-year-old boys from the wrestling team, have been prosecuted in a juvenile court, where proceedings are taking place out of public view.

According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, the student – identified only by his initials – said he joined the junior varsity wrestling program in his freshman year.

Shortly before the start of the 2019-20 season, he saw several acts of hazing from older members of the team, including one hitting or punching younger teammates with a wooden stick kept near the workout gym, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit alleges the boy was first attacked with the stick in December 2019, when he was punched on the back of the leg.

Then, according to the complaint, on January 8, 2020, the student arrived for training and was sitting on the floor putting on his shoes when he was tackled and pinned down by three teammates. The students then took a rope and tied her hands and feet. They took the stick, punched the boy several times on the back of the legs, then shoved it five times into the boy’s buttocks through his shorts, according to the complaint.

The attack ended when the boy freed himself from the rope and pushed the other boys.

It was then that Galando appeared, according to the lawsuit. None of the boys admitted what was going on. The boy who was assaulted “could not verbalize what just happened,” says the complaint.

White, the lawyer representing Lydic, said the boy testified at Lydic’s trial and said he was actively involved in the “heckling.”

The investigation into the allegations of hazing within the fight team began in January 2020, and state police said surveillance video showed cases of assault. Police said Lydic and Galando could be seen in videos during the assaults, and neither of the men reported the situation to school officials or to ChildLine, the Pennsylvania hotline for reporting suspected abuse. of children.

The trial accuses the two coaches of having been “manifestly negligent in their supervision of underage students entrusted to their care by their ignorant parents” and of not having reported the assaults.

“They created a climate of fear and intimidation, and a team culture of betrayal on the part of the coaches who should be their mentors and protect, and the older students who should be their leaders and role models,” said the trial.

He also alleges negligence against the district for failing to implement an anti-hazing policy, or for failing to enforce it.

The lawsuit said both Lydic and Galando were aware of the hazing and the existence and location of the wooden stick.

“Defendant Lydic, after witnessing one of the hazing incidents, told the offending student to watch out for the cameras near the training gym,” the complaint said.

The lawsuit also includes a claim against the school district for creating a “state-related danger” and for leaving 15 ninth-grade wrestlers unattended for 45 minutes each training day. There are other assault and battery complaints against Lydic, Galando and the two students who allegedly assaulted the boy, as well as another for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

White said he was not surprised the district was a named defendant in the lawsuit.

“The district has failed in its obligations to supervise these student-athletes,” he said. “Parents of all students must hold them accountable. “

Paula Reed Ward is the editor of Tribune-Review. You can contact Paula by email at [email protected] or via Twitter.

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