Mater Dei hazing lawsuit is dismissed

The household of a former Mater Dei Excessive Faculty soccer participant not too long ago dismissed their lawsuit that had alleged a tradition of hazing within the faculty’s famend soccer program led to their son’s beating and mind harm. The transfer indicators a probable out-of-court settlement within the case that despatched shock waves by means of the Santa Ana Catholic faculty group.

The attorneys for the previous soccer participant, recognized solely as John Doe, requested to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means the plaintiffs are unable to re-file the lawsuit. The swimsuit was dismissed Jan. 11, based on Orange County Superior Court docket data.

Attorneys for the previous Mater Dei soccer participant didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, nor did these representing Mater Dei or the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.

The lawsuit, initially filed in November 2021, detailed a brutal locker room ritual that was often called “Our bodies,” throughout which two gamers fought “till [one] can’t take it anymore and provides up,” the lawsuit alleged. The criticism stated the then-player was hit in the course of the hazing observe repeatedly within the head and was later identified with a traumatic mind harm and nasal fractures.

The lawsuit alleged that Mater Dei employees took in depth steps to attenuate fallout from the battle, although the backlash continued.

Former faculty President Father Walter E. Jenkins stepped down within the wake of the scandal, although not earlier than initiating a sports activities faculty security evaluation, which he stated can be made public. The evaluation was accomplished, however the outcomes have been by no means disclosed.

A couple of yr later, longtime soccer head coach Bruce Rollinson introduced his retirement.

Although this hazing case has been resolved, data present Mater Dei is going through one other lawsuit — this one from an area referee, who alleges negligence, assault and battery by an assistant basketball coach affiliated with the highschool.

The criticism alleges the coach assaulted the referee throughout a February 2021 recreation, “putting him and inflicting him to fall backwards and [hit] his head on the metallic bleachers,” leading to a black eye, a traumatic mind harm, and 5 staples to the again of his head, the lawsuit says. This lawsuit was filed in November.