WSU asks judge to dismiss lawsuit brought by ex-tennis players

The motion for dismissal filed Oct. 31 in Dayton’s U.S. District Court alleged that the university had substantiated allegations against Sodini for “abusive racist and anti-gay language” toward teammates.

Venegas — a native of Colombia — and Sodini — who was seven weeks from graduation — were among nine of 11 total team members expelled. That caused the Raiders not to field a team in spring 2016. The lawsuit states a hazing practice involved poking teammates in the rectum, which was called a culture of "mutual horseplay and banter."

“Sodini and Venegas try to point the finger at the University and an official who oversees conduct violations as the wrongdoers,” wrote WSU attorneys Michael McPhillips and Reid Carter from the Ohio Attorney General’s office.

“Sodini and Venegas attempt to transform their own sexual misconduct into civil rights and other violations committed against them – with Sodini even making the excuse that no one formally trained him that poking teammates in the rectum is wrong.”

The lawsuit lists as defendants Wright State University and Dr. Chris Taylor in his capacity as the school’s Director of Community Standards and Student Conduct.

“It is the university’s practice not to comment on any matters that may be the subject of pending litigation,” WSU wrote in a statement in early September 2016. “University action involving student athletes and any related incidents have been consistent with our established policies and procedures regarding student conduct.”

The allegations in the lawsuit appear to explain why on Jan. 21, 2016 the school abruptly canceled its spring 2016 men’s tennis season because many players had reportedly violated the code of student conduct.

On Jan. 22, assistant coach Nathan Jones was put on paid administrative leave when Director of Athletics Bob Grant wrote him a letter telling Jones, “You may have conducted yourself in an inappropriate manner.”

On Feb. 3, Jones resigned. A memo in Jones’ personnel file says the school’s Office of Equity and Inclusion “did not have an opportunity to take action regarding these violations of policies.”

WSU’s attorneys wrote that the lawsuit should be dismissed in its entirety. “The Court need not dig into the sordid details to dismiss this case,” they wrote.