Ex-Virginia receiver files suit over allegations of hazing and bullying
A former Virginia wide receiver has filed a suit vs. the school and other individuals because of the way he was treated while a member of the football team.
Aidan Howard filed the Title IX suit Friday in a U.S. District Court according to ESPN’s Outside the Lines. Howard alleges he suffered a broken orbital bone as part of an initiation fight egged on by wide receivers Doni Dowling and David Eldridge in August.
The suit names Dowling and Eldridge as defendants along with wide receivers coach Marques Hagans and says members of the UVA coaching staff knew he suffered the right eye injury but didn’t issue any punishments.
It alleges UVA “fostered a culture of bullying, harassment, and discrimination,” that hazing incidents were common, and that the school violated federal Title IX rules regarding harassment and discrimination. The school’s president and athletic director are also named as defendants.
The lawsuit states that, on Aug. 12, Dowling and Eldridge forced Howard to fight another first-year football player after a team practice as part of an “initiation” into the football program to prove his “toughness and manliness.” Howard did not want to fight but felt as though he had no choice, for fear of continued bullying and harassment, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit continues to describe the incident: Dowling and Eldridge taunted Howard during practice and used athletic tape to mark off a fighting area in the locker room. They forced Howard and the other football player to enter the ring to “flashing lights, loud music and announcement to simulate a ‘prize fight.'”
Howard suffered severe eye injuries after being struck by the other football player, who was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit because, according to Howard’s attorneys, he, too, was being forced and bullied by the older players to fight against his will. The suit states that Howard immediately experienced double-vision in his right eye and was in pain.
Howard, who transferred to FCS school Robert Morris, was diagnosed with a learning disability at UVA. He said the two wide receivers would make fun of him and would question his “manliness” and even call him “retarded.” Howard was a member of Virginia’s 2016 recruiting class.
Dowling has 21 catches for 309 yards and a touchdown in 2016 while Eldridge has five catches for 149 yards and a score.
“Upperclassmen, including defendants Dowling and Eldridge, made Aidan the target of bullying and harassing conduct because of his soft-spoken and mildmannered nature,” it is alleged in the complaint.
“In the presence of defendant Hagans and other coaches with the football program, defendants Dowling and Eldridge and others would frequently ostracize Aidan, and force him to eat lunch and dinner on his own.”
Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall is not named in the suit. He replaced former Virginia coach Mike London before the 2015 season. Hagans, a former quarterback at Virginia, has been with the school as the wide receivers coach since 2013.
According to Howard’s lawyer, a Title IX investigation by the school into the incident is ongoing. Virginia and those affiliated with the school didn’t comment to OTL other than a written statement from a spokesperson that said the school has been “actively investigating these reports consistent with its obligations under the law and university policy.”
The suit is the second hazing suit filed against a UVA team since 2015. Per the Times, five former members of the swimming team settled a suit accusing team members of hazing first-year swimmers in 2014.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
