Illinois High School Hazing Victims Awarded $1M
The soccer team hazing rituals involved sexual assault.
Each of the five student plaintiffs will receive $200,000 in the settlement.
DES PLAINES, Ill.—Five former Maine West High School student soccer players who claimed they were sexually assaulted in a hazing ritual four years ago have been awarded $1 million.
One student says his teammates took off his pants and underwear, pushed him to the ground, punched him, grabbed him by the testicles and sodomized him with sticks and their fingers, reports the Chicago Sun Times.
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Each of the five student plaintiffs will receive $200,000 in the settlement.
Shortly after the school board discovered the assault claims, the students responsible for the hazing were disciplined, and two of the teachers/coaches who were named in the lawsuit were fired. One coach was put on trial for misdemeanor hazing and battery, but found not guilty. The other was never tried.
The settlement announcement was made by the Maine Township High School District 207 and the law firm of Romanucci & Blandin on Tuesday.
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