Six women who previously played basketball at the University of Pittsburgh are suing Head Coach Tory Verdi and the school, alleging he created a hostile environment, abused players psychologically and retaliated against them after they complained.
The individual lawsuits were filed Friday in federal court in Pittsburgh. They include claims for violations of Title IX, the landmark gender equity law, including creating a hostile educational environment, retaliation, breach of contract for depriving students of their scholarships, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring and supervision.
“This case is not about the Xs and Os of coaching,” attorney Keenan Holmes, who represents the women, told TribLive Monday. “Some of his actions go beyond sports. This went beyond the bounds of decency.
“We’re looking for Pitt to do the right thing to make sure other players don’t have the same experience.”
Jared Stonesifer, a spokesman for the university, pushed back on the claims.
“The university is aware of these lawsuits and their allegations, which are without merit and will be vigorously defended,” Stonesifer said.
The plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are: Favor Ayodele, now a graduate student playing at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix; Raeven Boswell, who remains a student at Pitt; Makayla Elmore, who was a senior at the time; Brooklynn Miles, who was also a senior; Isabella Perkins, now a student at Boston College; and Jasmine Timmerson, now a student playing at Davidson College in North Carolina.
Several of the women were on scholarship to play Division I basketball at Pitt.
In her complaint, Perkins said she was recruited to play and offered a scholarship by Verdi, who promised “an inclusive, empowering team environment.”
She claimed, however, she was subjected to repeated offensive conduct in fall 2023, including “public humiliation, verbal degradation, arbitrary reductions in playing time, exclusion from team activities, favoritism of other players, manipulation of player statistics and inappropriate commentary regarding plaintiff’s physical appearance, emotional state, and performance.”
Perkins’ lawsuit asserts that the university, through coaching staff and administrators, knew about the students’ complaints but took no action.
More than that, the lawsuits claimed, players who raised concerns were retaliated against.
Perkins alleges Verdi removed her from the team without due process after she complained. Then, when she sought redshirt status for that year, the university delayed the process, and then took action only after she retained a lawyer.
“This environment of fear and silence was cultivated through deliberate inaction by defendant university and exploited by Defendant Verdi as a tool of control,” Holmes, the women’s lawyer, wrote in Ayodele’s complaint.
The lawsuits called the team culture under Verdi “coercive, degrading and emotionally destabilizing.”
The complaints include several specific examples of Verdi’s alleged behavior. In one instance, they claimed, after a practice during the 2023-24 season, Verdi told the team, “Every night I lie in bed I want to kill myself because of you.”
“This shocking statement, made by a figure in power, caused fear, emotional distress, and confusion among players and contributed significantly to the emotionally abusive environment that permeated the program,” Holmes wrote.
The lawsuits additionally allege that Verdi intentionally attempted to create racial division among team members.
On one occasion, they claimed, Verdi pitted white players against Black players “by asserting that players ‘hung out’ only with others of the same race.”
Verdi was hired by former Athletic Director Heather Lyke in April 2023 to coach the women’s basketball team, becoming its 10th coach.
He and Lyke had worked together years earlier at Eastern Michigan when she served as athletic director at the same time Verdi coached the women’s team there.
He went on to coach at the University of Massachusetts for seven years before coming to Pitt, whose women’s team last made the NCAA tournament in 2015.
The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages, as well as a declaration that Pitt violated Title IX.
The Pitt women’s team is struggling this season, going 8-17 overall, and 1-11 in the ACC, putting them near the bottom of the 18-team conference.
They have lost eight straight games and play next against Syracuse at 6 p.m. Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
There are six games remaining in their regular season.