Attorneys for a former member of the Idaho State University tennis team filed a federal lawsuit against the school Friday that accuses the athlete’s former instructors of religious discrimination, which culminated when two alleged prostitutes were sent to his hotel room during a 2015 tennis trip.
In a 17-page complaint brought in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, lawyers for former ISU tennis star Orin Duffin allege their client was harassed and discriminated against because he belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mr. Duffin began attending ISU in August 2014 after being offered an athletic scholarship by the school and soon joined the college’s men’s tennis team, according to the lawsuit.
His religious affiliation quickly became known among the team, and soon he was being singled out by coaches who acted “overtly critical and verbally aggressive” on account of his religion, the complaint alleges.
The assistant coach of the men’s tennis team at the time, Nate Gross, “almost immediately” began to harass the athlete, according to the complaint, and before long he and then-head coach Bobby Goeltz allegedly began asking Mr. Duffin “inappropriate questions about sexual activities” as they relate to the Mormon religion.
Mr. Duffin soon told his teammates and coaches that he would be doing mission work in Taiwan after the 2014-2015 school year, and at that point would no longer be on the team, the suit continued. In response, Mr. Goeltz allegedly retaliated against the tennis star by prohibiting him from participating in any further doubles games, according to the claim.
The ISU men’s team took part in a tournament in Utah and Arizona last March, according to the suit, at which point the alleged harassment was taken to a new level, lawyers allege.
“While staying in Las Vegas, coach Gross hatched a plan involving team members and arranged to send two prostitutes/strippers to Plaintiff’s room for the purpose of propositioning him with sex. The women asked Plaintiff if he was interested in ‘having a good time.’ Gross sent the women to Plaintiff’s room to tempt him to violate his religions tenets and to sexually harass and embarrass him,” according to the suit.
The university’s Office of Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Diversity later investigated the tennis trip and concluded last year that allegations concerning the sex workers could be corroborated, Idaho Fall’s Post-Register newspaper reported.
That probe ultimately determined that Mr. Goeltz had permitted a culture of hostility toward Mr. Duffin, the paper stated, and recommended that action be taken against both coaches.
While the probe called for the firing of Mr. Goeltz, he announced his retirement instead one month later. Mr. Gross had already resigned by that point, the paper noted, but investigators recommended he never be rehired. With the school having failed to take disciplinary action, however, attorneys for Mr. Duffin are now suing ISU, its president, the school’s athletic director and both former coaches, as well as 10 unidentified former teammates.
Attorneys are seeking punitive damages for religious discrimination, deprivation of due process, deprivation of free speech, conspiracy, negligent supervision and training, negligence, gross negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Stuart Summers, ISU’s associate vice president for Marketing and Communications, told the Post-Register Monday that the school would not comment on pending litigation.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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