Kiersten Hening filed a lawsuit in 2021 against head coach Charles “Chugger” Adair on First Amendment grounds, claiming that she was benched after Adair became frustrated by her political views, which often differed from those of her teammates, the Roanoke Times reports. The ‘social-justice demonstration’ was primarily a ritual in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis Police (and with an elephant-sized dose of fentanyl in his system).
After Henning refused to kneel during the reading of a “unity statement” prior to a Sept. 12, 2020 game against the University of Virginia, Adair “verbally attacked” her during halftime – berating and eventually benching her. Two games later, she quit the team, saying that she was forced out due to her coach’s “campaign of abuse and retaliation.”
Henning claimed in her lawsuit that while she “supports social justice and believes that black lives matter,” she “does not support BLM the organization,” citing its “tactics and core tenets of its mission statement, including defunding the police,” the NY Post reports.
That said, the settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing by either Hennig or her former coach.
The settlement came after a decision by Judge Thomas Cullen, who denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and agreeing that Henning’s time on the field decreased following the incident.
“Ultimately, Adair may convince a jury that this coaching decision was based solely on Hening’s poor play during the UVA game, but the court, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Hening, cannot reach that conclusion as a matter of law,” Cullen ruled.
Colin
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