Ursuline High School – Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic / Wikimedia
A gay former student at a Catholic high school has filed a federal lawsuit accusing administrators of ignoring relentless bullying and harassment by members of the school’s storied football team.
The lawsuit, filed by a student identified as “Grandson Rudolph” and his legal guardian, “Grandmother Rudolph,” alleges that administrators shielded football players from discipline, prioritizing their protection over the safety of other students, according to CBS affiliate WTRF.
Filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, the suit names Ursuline High School, Assistant Principal Margaret Damore, and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown as defendants.
According to the complaint, administrators violated Grandson Rudolph’s rights under Title IX, which bars sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools. It also asserts three state-law claims: negligence, negligent supervision, and negligent training, supervision, discipline, hiring, and retention.
The Rudolphs are requesting a jury trial. They are seeking a declaration that the school violated the student’s rights, an order barring retaliation against the family, and financial compensation for the alleged harm — including emotional distress and reputational damage — along with attorney fees.
During the 2023-2024 school year, Grandson Rudolph — then an out gay freshman — endured daily abuse from football players, including homophobic slurs, physical intimidation, and having food thrown at him hard enough to leave a visible red mark. The mistreatment continued beyond school grounds.
The filing also alleges that a religious education teacher, Nannette Jacobs, joined in the abuse by making comments about the student’s appearance. Rudolph says other teachers witnessed the behavior but took no meaningful action to stop it, despite his multiple complaints to Damore, the assistant principal.
Grandmother Rudolph made 20 calls to the school over an 11-week span without any resolution. One reported incident at a McDonald’s involved football players mocking both the student and his grandmother. When she brought the incident to school staff, including head football coach Daniel Reardon, she was met with hostility and received no help.
As a result of the ongoing abuse and the school’s inaction, Grandson Rudolph transferred to another school. He is now in weekly counseling and is expected to continue receiving mental health support.
The school declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit.
The Rudolph filing is the third federal lawsuit accusing Ursuline High School and several administrators and coaches of ignoring repeated reports of bullying, harassment, and assault.
Subodh Chandra, the attorney representing plaintiffs in all three cases, says additional lawsuits may be filed as more victims and witnesses come forward.
A California school district will pay $700,000 to a lesbian administrator -- plus an additional $500,000 in attorneys' fees -- to settle her claims that she was demoted and pushed out because of her sexual orientation.
Rose Tagnesi, the district's former special education director, sued Grossmont Union High School District last month, alleging she was harassed and retaliated against for opposing what she called the board's "anti-LGBTQ agenda" -- including efforts in 2023 to ban LGBTQ books and cancel contracts with an LGBTQ-affirming mental health provider.
A transgender teaching assistant at the University of Oklahoma has been placed on leave after a conservative student accused both the assistant and the course's professor of discriminating against her for citing the Bible in an essay that received a zero.
The student, OU junior Samantha Fulnecky, a psychology major, had been assigned a 650-word essay reacting to a study on whether children's popularity correlates with how closely they conform to prescribed gender norms, reports Oklahoma-based NPR station KOSU.
The study -- Gender Typicality, Peer Relations and Mental Health -- found that popular children are more likely to be described as "gender-typical" by their peers than children who are frequently teased. Among those who are teased, young boys show the worst mental health outcomes.
In late November, the University of Oklahoma placed Mel Curth on administrative leave after the transgender graduate teaching assistant gave a student a zero on an essay about gender roles.
The essay cited the Bible to defend traditional gender roles and described transgender people as "demonic." Curth and the course's instructor, Megan Waldron, said the paper failed to meet basic academic standards due to a lack of empirical evidence. Both noted that the paper cited no scholarly sources and failed to offer an evidence-based critique of the assigned article, which argued that children who do not conform to rigid gender stereotypes are more likely to face bullying and negative mental health outcomes.
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