Complaint alleges Northwestern’s negligence led to player being sexually and mentally abused, hazed, and degraded after he was injured and had to undergo surgery
CHICAGO, Ill. – Renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and Chicago based personal injury and medical malpractice firm Levin & Perconti filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of former Northwestern defensive player Simba Short, who played for Northwestern from 2015-2016 and was a highly recruited football player.
The complaint alleges Short suffered frequent locker room harassment, unwanted physical and sexual contact, and was degraded and bullied by coaches and other players after undergoing surgery to repair an injured shoulder. During his time on the Northwestern football team, the complaint alleges Short felt embarrassed, ashamed, dehumanized, powerless, dirty, and anxious. The severe emotional and psychological trauma eventually led him to self-harm and be hospitalized while at Northwestern and still impacts his life today. His lawsuit against Northwestern University includes three counts of negligence, willful and wanton disregard for player safety and well-being, and violation of Illinois’ Gender Violence Act.
Before entering Northwestern in 2015, Short was a standout football player and three-year varsity starter at football powerhouse De La Salle high school in Concord, California. He was team captain and starred on two state championship teams. In 2014, his team had a perfect 14-0 record and was ranked No. 2 nationally by USA Today. Short also achieved honor roll status in seven consecutive semesters.
“Simba entered Northwestern as an outstanding freshman, full of promise on the football field and in the classroom,” said attorney Ben Crump. “By the end of his freshman year, this abusive culture had broken him. We are seeking justice for him and other student athletes who were forced to live in fear and suffer at the hands of the University leadership. Simba is a hero of this MeToo movement of college sports, and we applaud him for stepping forward to tell his story.”
Northwestern began recruiting Short when he was just 15. He had scholarship offers from six major universities but he committed to Northwestern University in his junior year. He wanted to play football in the Big Ten and was impressed by the school’s academic excellence. He had also come to trust head Coach Pat Fitzgerald and the other coaches who recruited him.
According to the complaint during his recruiting, Coach Fitzgerlad compared the commitment Northwestern was making to him as a marriage and urged Short to cancel his official visits to both the University of Utah and Yale. They stressed that if he talked to or visited another school, his scholarship to Northwestern would be revoked because he was cheating on his marriage. Short arrived on the Northwestern campus in June of 2015 for summer football training camp.
“It proved to be a dysfunctional and abusive relationship from the start. Simba entered Northwestern as a freshman with an injury history which included a recent surgical procedure following his senior year in high school. Northwestern was aware of this when they recruited him,” said Margaret Battersby Black, managing partner at Levin & Perconti. “Shortly after he arrived at Northwestern, coaches, trainers and doctors told him he would need to undergo a serious neck surgery due to the injury which kept him away from football related activities for months while he recovered and rehabbed. This was devastating news for Simba as it would be for any freshman athlete. Instead of offering him encouragement and support, he was bullied and ridiculed and then violently hazed.”
According to the complaint due to his injury and not being able to play, Short was a target of verbal bullying from both coaches and players and was often referred to as an “eater and shitter” because his value to the team was nothing but consuming food and toilet space until he was healthy. Other injured players were also routinely bullied in this manner the complaint alleges.
Short returned to the practice field during spring football in 2016. He was not fully healed and was still receiving physical therapy. When he showed his teammates that he was finally able to lift his arm, the complaint alleges Short was confronted with a “Shrek clap,” one of many Northwestern football hazing rituals by a group of senior members of the football team in the locker room, and told that he was then “healthy enough to be ran.”
A “run” or “running” consists of a group of players forcibly holding down a non-consenting teammate and rubbing their genital areas against the teammate’s genitals, face, and buttocks while rocking back and forth without consent from the teammate. Short was very fearful of being “run.” He had witnessed another freshman player dunked upside down in the ice bath while other players “ran” him while he was naked, upside down with his head underwater. When it was over, the player was clearly struggling physically to breathe. According to the complaint, Short suffered from severe emotional stress and anxiety after watching his teammate be so violently abused, causing him to run and hide in a closet for an hour after the incident.
Short tried to avoid the upperclassman in the locker room but to no avail. The complaint alleges four or five of them cornered Short in the locker room where he was restrained by two upperclassmen holding his arms, another holding his legs. The players pushed Short onto the bench face down and pushed his head into the wall. He was “ran” by one of the players while being forcefully restrained, unable to move or fight back. Following the “running” he considered quitting the team entirely because he was so emotionally traumatized.
The complaint alleges Short and other freshmen were forced to participate in the “Dredge” which stood for the drinking edge. It was held post training and he recalls that by the end of the “competition” freshman players were violently throwing up due to the amount of alcohol consumed. Participation in the “Dredge” was not optional because the punishment for not attending or participating would be that you would go on “the list” for getting “ran” or face other ostracizing treatment.
It was all taking a toll on Short’s mental health, especially the fear of being “ran” again, the complaint alleges. He continued to go to physical therapy, but stopped going to football practices and events. He was clearly struggling but no coaches reached out to him nor was he offered consistent mental health services This all ultimately led to a mental health crisis that culminated in his attempt in self harm in the spring of 2016 and an emergency hospitalization. At that point, Coach Fitzgerald sat down with him and suggested Short could medically retire from the football program which he did. Short returned to Northwestern as a student in 2019 to finish his degree and graduated in 2021.
According to the complaint, Coach Fitzgerald had ample opportunity to observe and know about the hazing and that his own public statements show he was aware that hazing was dangerous and wrong. The complaint alleges that numerous assistant coaches witnessed the hazing and two participated in it. Short recalls several strength coaches being on the team’s infamous Bus 2 where hazing routinely occurred and witnessed it.
“We will hold Northwestern University accountable for this dehumanizing culture of abuse dominated by extreme and brutal hazing. Where was the University when all this was happening? Why wasn’t it monitoring the football program or providing a mechanism for students to report what was happening without fearing retribution, and why did it fail to enforce its own anti hazing policy,” asked Steve Levin, founding partner of Levin & Perconti? “Player after player has one horrific story after another. The scale of this is so vast and occurred for so long.”
More lawsuits will be filed in the coming days.
###
ABOUT BEN CRUMP LAW
Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.
ABOUT LEVIN & PERCONTI
Levin & Perconti is a nationally renowned law firm committed to protecting and vindicating the rights of people who have been injured due to systemic flaws and corporations choosing profits over people. The lawyers at Levin & Perconti are committed to protecting and vindicating the rights of people who are injured. The firm concentrates on all types of personal injury, physical and sexual abuse, medical malpractice, nursing home, and wrongful death litigation. Please visit www.levinperconti.com for more information.
Three-year varsity starter … Served as team captain in 2014 … First Team All-EBAL honoree … Also captured the Team Players’ Award … Made a one-handed interception in a playoff game against Amador Valley … Helped the Spartans win two state championships, three Nor-Cal titles and three NCS crowns … Team finished 2014 with a perfect 14-0 record and ranked No. 2 nationally by USA Today … Achieved Honor Roll status in seven consecutive semesters.
Personal: Born Simba Kamaleimaikalani Short in Wailuku, Hawaii … Middle name means “beloved child sent from heaven” … Son of Roger and Lenee Short … Passionate about graffiti art … Competed in high school against Northwestern running back Warren Long … Attended same high school as notable NFL names Maurice Jones-Drew, DJ Williams and Amani Toomer … Chose Northwestern over UCLA, Arizona State, Cal, Duke and others … Major is undeclared.
Simba to enact reasonable measures including, but not limited to those outlined in paragraphs 373-388 to protect players from hazing, sexual abuse, mental suffering and embarrassment and other forms of abuse.
45
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
390. Had Northwestern University had the reasonable measures outlined in paragraphs 373-388 in place before the summer of 2015, Simba would not have been sexually and mentally abused, hazed, and degraded.
C. SEXUAL CONDUCT TOLLING
391. For an action arising out of an injury caused by “sexual conduct” or “sexual penetration” as defined in Section 11-0.1 of the Criminal Code of 2012, the limitation period in Section 13-202 does not run during a time period when the person injured is subject to threats, intimidation, manipulation, or fraud perpetrated by the perpetrator or by a person the perpetrator knew or should have known was acting in the interest of the perpetrator. 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/13-202.3.
392. The Criminal Code further defines “sexual conduct” as “any knowing touching or fondling by the victim or the accused, either directly or through clothing, of the sex organs, anus, or breast of the victim or the accused . . .” 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/11-0.1.
393. When a plaintiff’s claim aris[es] out of an injury caused by ‘sexual conduct’ as defined under the statute, the statute of limitations is tolled.
394. Plaintiff, Simba Short experienced injury caused by “sexual conduct” as defined in Section 11-0.1 of the Criminal Code of 2012 when he was “run” in the locker room, experiencing unwanted physical contact, humiliation, touching and fondling of his genitals and anus, and other tortious acts.
395. Plaintiff, Simba Short was and continues to be “subject to threats, intimidation, manipulation, or fraud perpetrated by the perpetrator and by persons the perpetrator knew or should have known was acting in the interest of the perpetrator” including but not limited to being ostracized by the team, losing his scholarship, not playing football, and interference with his
46
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
graduation from Northwestern University and ongoing lifetime success and career.
396. The statute of limitations has tolled on Simba Short’s claim as a result of the illegal and tortious sexual conduct perpetrated against him, and his legal claims are therefore not barred.
D. FRAUDULENT CONCEALMENT TOLLING
397. A plaintiff’s sense of reality being manipulated by defendants, including being manipulated to believe that abuse is a good thing, warrants a finding of fraudulent concealment.
398. Defendants knew they had a duty to speak and act to address the illegal and tortious conduct that was transpiring on the Northwestern football team.
399. Defendants intended to induce false belief in Simba Short that what was happening to him and other players on the football team was normal, and even positive and conducive to team bonding, when they threatened, groomed, and manipulated him.
400. Plaintiff Simba Short was prevented from discovering that what was happening to him was actionable due to being subjected to hostility, threats, grooming, and manipulation by Defendants.
401. Plaintiff Simba Short relied on Defendants to cultivate a safe and positive environment and to protect his interests, including protection from illegal and tortious conduct.
402. Plaintiff would have acted differently if Defendants had not concealed information from him regarding his ideas about withdrawing his commitment and the conduct he was subjected to as a member of the Northwestern football team.
403. Plaintiff Simba Short has suffered damages as a result of Defendants’ actions, including physical and emotional trauma.
404. The statute of limitations has tolled on Simba Short’s claim as a result of Defendants’ fraudulent concealment, and his legal claims are therefore not barred.
47
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
E. REPRESSEDMEMORYTOLLING
405. When an adult plaintiff has repressed memories or did not understand or appreciate that abuse had occurred, the plaintiff can avoid a limited statute of limitations.
406. Plaintiff, Simba Short and other Northwestern football players were psychologically manipulated and groomed to believe the illegal and tortious behavior they were enduring was justified, acceptable, normal, and was not actionable abuse.
407. As a result of the psychological trauma Simba Short endured, he repressed his memory of the traumatic events that transpired during his time on the Northwestern football team as a psychological defense mechanism.
408. Upon seeing allegations and stories of the abuse resurface recently in the news, in July 2023, Simba Short’s memory was triggered, and he recalled the abuse he had endured as a member of the Northwestern football team.
409. Plaintiff, Simba Short understood upon seeing the hazing and misconduct allegations against Defendants in the news that his injuries were wrongfully caused.
410. The statute of limitations has tolled on Simba Short’s claim as a result of his repressed memory, and his legal claims are therefore not barred.
COUNT I Simba Short v. NU (Negligence)
1– 410. Plaintiff, Simba Short, repeats, realleges and fully incorporates by reference all facts and allegations contained in Paragraphs 1 through 410 as fully set forth herein.
411. Northwestern University, through its employees including coaches, training staff and athletic department, had a duty to supervise their athletic programs, including its training facilities and locker rooms to protect the safety and well-being of its student athletes.
48
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
412. Defendant, Northwestern University, through its employees including coaches, training staff and athletic department, had a duty to enforce its anti-hazing policies.
413. Defendant, Northwestern University, through its employees including coaches, training staff and athletic department, had a duty to protect their student athletes from physical and sexual violence, hazing and extreme mental abuse.
414. Defendant, Northwestern University, and Simba Short had a special relationship whereby Defendant exerted superiority and influence over Simba Short due to Simba Short’s trust and confidence in Defendant’s guidance, leadership and football and academic programs.
415. Defendant, Northwestern University, had a duty to protect Simba Short from preventable and foreseeable criminal acts of third parties, including, but not limited to, members of its football team.
416. Defendant Northwestern University knew or should have known, of the sexualized acts of hazing occurring in football program before Simba Short became a part of it in 2015.
417. The Northwestern coaching staff had significant opportunities to discovery hazing conduct in violation of their policies in 2014, before Simba Short was enrolled at Northwestern
⦁ he “Dredge” would ultimately end in extreme intoxication for many, leading to
vomiting and unconsciousness. For others, it ended in physical altercations and injuries or threats of violence.
342. Simba was forced to participate in the “Dredge” as were all other freshman and he recalls that by the end of the “competition” freshman players were violently throwing up due to the amount of alcohol consumed.
343. Participation in the “Dredge” was not optional because the punishment for not attending or participating would be that you would go on “the list” for getting “ran” or face other ostracizing treatment.
The punishment for telling a Bus 2 story that was not vivid, vile or sexually explicit enough was that you would get “ran”.
324. Simba witnessed a particular Bus 2 incident when the team was on their way to a team bowling outing.
325. On their way to the bowling alley, the upperclassmen would pick out their victims at random and force them to tell the entire bus about their first sex story or their most embarrassing story.
326. Each player would stand up and call out, “shout out to the backs” to which the bus responded with an aggressive “ahh”. This chant was done for each position group on the bus.
327. In a few instances on this day, the player speaking was not explicit enough and was taunted with “show us you dick f—t (expletive)” and “you’re going to get ran” over and over until the speaker gave more explicit details.
328. Simba recalls that there were strength coaches on the bus during this ride. d. The Trading Block
329. “The Trading Block” was an event that occurred more than once a year where the entire team including coaching and training staff gathered in a large room for dinner.
- Players sat with their position groups and coaches sat together.
- Each group took turns “trading” insults.
- The insults often involved exposing personal details of the coaches and teammates
lives, on some occasions exposing infidelity in committed relationships or questioning sexuality in front of the entire group.
After Simba arrived at Northwestern, he had a meeting with Northwestern coaching staff, trainers and doctors, and was informed that he would need to undergo another surgical procedure which kept him away from football related activities for months while he recovered and rehabbed.
260. Funderwent his serious neck surgery in July of 2015 leaving him injured for all of the football season.
261. Due to his neck injury, Simba believes the only reason he was not “ran” after his surgery was because the upperclassmen were told not to mess with him due to his injuries.
262. Following Simba’s months-long rehabilitation, he returned to the practice field during spring football and demonstrated that he was finally able to lift his arm.
263. Days after Simba’s return to football related activities, Simba was confronted with a “Shrek clap” and a group of senior members of the football team in the locker room, at which point he was told that he was then “healthy enough to be ran.”
31
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
264. Later that week, during the Spring of 2016, Simba stayed behind about an hour and a half after practice to shower in order to avoid confrontations with the upperclassmen.
265. In order to get to the shower, Simba had to walk past the middle isle of lockers. As he walked past the middle isle, the “Shrek clap” began.
266. About 4 or 5 upperclassmen cornered Simba in the locker room where he was restrained by two upperclassmen holding his arms, another holding his legs. The players pushed Simba onto the bench facedown and pushed his head into the wall.
267. Simba was “ran” by one of the players while being forcefully restrained, unable to move or fight back.
268. Following the “running” Simba felt embarrassed, ashamed, dehumanized, powerless, dirty and anxious.
269. Following the “running,” Simba considered quitting the team entirely because he was so emotionally traumatized.
270. During the regular season, most of, if not all players were subject to many instances of hazing and torment such as “running,” “Runsgiving/Runsmas”, “Gatorade shake challenges,” “Bus Two Stories,” “Trading Block” and other forced naked acts.
271. During the holidays, upperclassmen held an event called “Runsgiving/Runsmas” where those players who had either yet to be ran or qualified according to the “running” hierarchy would be targeted.
272. Those who got “ran” were often players who were not contributing as meaningfully to the team due to injury or experience.
273. Other players were the target of “running” if they were perceived as too confident, needing to be brought down to an acceptable level of confidence in the older players’ eyes.
32
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
274. “Runsgiving” occurred around Thanksgiving and “Runsmas” would occur around the time of any bowl games.
275. There was a “runsmith” who would be in charge of running players in the weeks leading up to the bowl game.
276. The upperclassmen created a list of those who had messed up a team activity, talked back, came late to meetings/practice or any other event where the whole team was punished because of one person.
277. Many student athletes who lived too far to travel home remained on campus during the Thanksgiving holiday.
278. The athletes targeted for “runsgiving” were those athletes that remained on campus during the holiday.
279. Similarly, players living out of state were not able to travel home for Christmas or New Years like their classmates when Northwestern University was in a bowl game. Classmates who lived closer may be able to escape “Runsmas.” If you remained on campus leading up to the bowl game, you were the target of “Runsmas.”
280. In 2015, there was a disturbing “running” incident of a freshman player who was perceived as overly confident by the upperclassman.
281. After practice, there were makeshift ice baths that had been placed in trash cans after a home game because the team’s ice baths were broken.
282. The baths were dirty and warm by the time this practice occurred and had not been cleaned up from the weekend’s game.
283. Multiple players saw this player being carried into the shower by 10-15 teammates, naked.
33
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
284. The teammates dunked him upside down in the ice bath and ran him while he was naked, upside down with his head underwater.
285. Other players witnessing the hazing tried to remain unseen during this incident to avoid becoming victims themselves.
- When it was over, the other player was clearly struggling physically to breathe.
- After witnessing this “running” incident, Simba suffered from severe emotional
stress, and anxiety causing him to run and hide in a closet for an hour.
288. John Doe 2 was also present nearby this incident when he saw the freshman player get dragged naked into the showers.
289. Following this incident, the victimized player reported what occurred to many teammates and the details of the event began to reach many members of the team, instilling fear in Simba and others that a similar act would be inflicted upon them if they spoke out.
290. In at least two separate incidents with two separate coaches, they were “ran” on the field by players which event was initiated by the players with the “Shrek clap.”
291. Many players spent considerable time and mental energy avoiding entry into the locker room or showers, changing their routines and experiencing anxiety in advance of entering the premises to avoid what they believed were “penitentiary games” that would be played with their bodies if they did not strategically avoid it.
292. During the Fall of 2015, Lloyd Yates experienced psychological manipulation where he was tricked by a strength coach employed by Northwestern University into disclosing information about his teammates.
293. During the Fall 2015 season, Lloyd Yates was a redshirt freshman and often would not travel to away games.
34
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
294. Players not traveling to away games would have strength workouts back on campus in Evanston.
295. On one Friday during the fall season, Lloyd Yates was working out with strength coach Jay Hooten.
Simba entered Northwestern University as a freshman with an injury history which included a recent surgical procedure following his senior year in high school.
41
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
358. Simba was a target of verbal bullying from both player and coaches and was often referred to as an “eater and shitter” because his value to the team was nothing but consuming food and toilet space until he was healthy.
359. Other injured players were called “eaters and shitters” too, clarifying the coaching staff’s view of their worth to the team.
360. Players who were not able to meaningfully contribute to the team were also the target of the lewd and humiliating hazing activities described above.
j. Mental health support for players
361. Throughout his time in the Northwestern University football program, Simba was
not offered consistent mental health services, only meeting with the Counseling and Psychological Services department sporadically.
362. For two months prior to his retirement in 2016, Simba had become withdrawn from the team, only attending his physical therapy sessions.
363. Simba did not attend any practices, films or other team events because of the trauma and fear due to the hazing incidents that occurred during his time at Northwestern University.
364. While Simba was skipping practices and other team events, no person from the coaching staff met with Simba to ask why he wasn’t attending these mandatory team events.
365. To the coaches, Simba was a “shitter and eater”, and they did not care what he had to say.
366. The acts described throughout this complaint caused Simba to feel depressed, anxious, feel worthless and ultimately led to a mental health crisis that culminated in his attempting self-harm in the Spring 2016 and an emergency hospitalization.
42
FILED DATE: 7/26/2023 10:55 AM 2023L007396
367. It wasn’t until after Simba was hospitalized in 2016 that Coach Fitz sat down with him and suggested that Simba could medically retire from the football program.
368. Not long after, Simba made the difficult decision to medically retire from football. k. Disregarding of complaints and ongoing intimidation
369. Warren Miles Long, who was a player beginning in 2013 approached Fitz with complaints and concerns both involving football and personal matters during his time as a player. These concerns were disregarded and in one instance, he was instructed to sweep the situation under the rug. This treatment of Long’s concerns by Fitz created a hostility and environment that deterred Long from coming forward about additional and other issues while he was a player, even though he was on the team’s “leadership council.”
370. Following the firing of Coach Fitz, many players including Simba have received messages from former teammates or even current coaching staff that instruct that support for Coach Fitz needs to be shown by the team members.
371. Even after Northwestern University’s own internal report indicted itself for hazing in the football program and despite Coach Fitz being the head of that program and in a superior position to know or at the very least, have significant opportunities to know that hazing was occurring, the Fitz faithful are an intimidating presence for former team members wanting to come forward.
372. Many former players believe that
