WALL TOWNSHIP — Two more lawsuits have been filed since late May stemming from the Wall High School football hazing incidents in fall of 2021, with both plaintiffs naming school staff at the time, including Superintendent Tracy Handerhan, the Wall Township Board of Education (BOE) and former coaching staff as defendants and describing physical sexual abuse at the hands of their teammates that was not prevented or stopped by the defendants.
When Handerhan and BOE attorney Athina Cornell were asked for comment via email, Cornell said, “The board does not comment on pending legal matters.”
McOmber, McOmber and Luber P.C. of Red Bank, who is representing both new plaintiffs along with two others who filed lawsuits in March regarding similar football hazing incidents, declined to comment on the new lawsuits.
May 30 lawsuit
A new plaintiff filed a lawsuit describing physical sexual abuse in the Wall High School boys’ football locker room in 2021, against defendants the Wall Township Board of Education, Superintendent Tracy Handerhan, Wall High’s then-principal Rosaleen Sirchio, athletic director at the time Thomas Ridoux, then-head football coach Anthony Grandinetti, assistant coach Michael Cerminaro, ABC corporations 1-5 that have not yet been identified and John Does 1 – 5, who have also not been identified in the lawsuit.
The plaintiff is represented by McOmber, McOmber and Luber, P.C., who in the lawsuit say the plaintiff was a 16-year-old student at Wall High School (WHS) and was a member of WHS’ varsity football team when he was sexually abused by his teammates in the football locker room.
The lawsuit alleges that around Oct. 25, 2021, the plaintiff was in the boys’ locker room before the varsity football team’s daily practice. While defendants were supposed to be supervising, the plaintiff was held down by several members of the football team while other teammates snuck up behind the plaintiff, held him down, pinned down his arms and legs, and penetrated the plaintiff’s anus with their fingers through the plaintiff’s shorts.
“Despite Plaintiff’s efforts to break free from his teammates’ grasp and his shouts for help, no one from Defendant WBOE (Wall Board of Education) intervened to protect Plaintiff from the egregious and unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination, which were based on Plaintiff’s gender and perceived sexual orientation,” the lawsuit states.
“Although staff members employed by defendant Wall Board of Education were supposed to be present in the WHS boys’ locker room and supervising the students therein, they completely failed to do so in all respects,” the lawsuit reads.
The events, which were captured on video, were not stopped or interrupted at any time by any employee of defendant WBOE, according to the lawsuit filing. “Worse, despite the fact that the same teammates had subjected other members of the WHS Varsity Football Team to similar unlawful conduct on multiple prior occasions, Defendant WBOE also failed to implement policies and procedures in place to ensure this type of conduct never occurred in the first place,” it reads.
“Adding insult to injury, the video of the aforementioned incident was circulated throughout the student population at WHS and even in the media, adding to Plaintiff’s humiliation,” the lawsuit reads.
June 18 lawsuit
Another plaintiff, also represented by McOmber, McOmber and Luber P.C., filed a lawsuit on June 18 against the same defendants as the May filed lawsuit, and additionally names Robert Grace, former assistant football coach at the time the plaintiff alleges he was sexually assaulted at the hands of his teammates in fall 2021.
The plaintiff alleges he was “grabbed in a headlock and dragged into the bathroom area of the locker room by three teammates” and was unable to break free. Once in the bathroom area, “one of plaintiff’s teammates grabbed plaintiff’s crotch and held Plaintiff down on the urine-soaked floor of the locker room,” which the lawsuit says was also captured on video.
“Despite Plaintiff’s efforts to break free from his teammates’ grasp and his shouts for help, no one from Defendant WBOE intervened to protect Plaintiff from the egregious and unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination, which were based on Plaintiff’s gender and perceived sexual orientation,” the lawsuit reads.
The plaintiff, who was lying on his back, was eventually able to scramble to his feet and rush out of the bathroom area of the locker room, according to the lawsuit. At that point, the plaintiff headed to his locker where he was “forced to change his shirt because the one he was wearing was coated with urine from the bathroom floor,” the lawsuit reads.
Three years after national media attention
The lawsuits come three years after the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office filed juvenile complaints against multiple Wall High students, charging the adolescents in January 2022 with hazing, attempted criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual contact, false imprisonment and harassment for incidents that occurred in the Wall Township High School football team’s locker room from September to October 2021, according to Acting County Prosecutor Lori Linskey at the time.
Plea deals followed for six juvenile defendants, attorney Christopher Adams said at the time, who represented some of the players who were charged.
The incident also resulted in coaching staff and school officials losing their positions at the high school, and garnered national media attention.
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