Wisconsin, former basketball coach Marisa Moseley ask court to dismiss lawsuit

• Former University of Wisconsin women’s basketball players are suing former head coach Marisa Moseley for alleged psychological abuse.
• The defendants, including Moseley and the UW Board of Regents, have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

MADISON – In August, a group of former University of Wisconsin women’s basketball players sued former head coach Marisa Moseley, alleging psychological abuse.

The civil case, which also lists the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and former UW senior associate athletic director Justin Doherty as defendants, seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

Monday, Dec. 8, the attorney representing the defendants filed a motion in the District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin to dismiss the complaint entirely.

In an 86-page brief, attorney Anne Bensky writes that her clients deny the allegations but that even if they’re taken as true do not contain facts that show a violation of the Constitution or federal laws.

“The Plaintiffs want the federal court to award damages to players whose basketball coach yelled at them,” she wrote. “But because these allegations plainly do not violate the Constitution or federal civil rights laws, the relief they request is outside the Court’s authority.”

The complaint was filed by former Badgers Alexis Duckett, Krystyna Ellew, Mary Ferrito, Tara Stauffacher and Tessa Towers on Aug. 15. The amended complaint filed Sept. 25 included another former Badger, Tessa Grady.

Among the allegations in the 55-page document:

*  Moseley “unconstitutionally toyed with the mental health of her players, including Plaintiffs, as a means of exerting control over every facet of their lives, including retaliating against them based on their protected speech and expressive acts and discriminating against them based on their disabilities or perceived disabilities.”

* Moseley interfered with her players’ mental health treatment, something she accomplished by threatening to take away playing time or scholarships.

The complaint alleges Doherty, who was the administrator for women’s basketball and retired in April, knew about the allegations but did nothing to stop them.

Moseley resigned as Wisconsin’s coach March 9 after four seasons as head coach.

After a denial of the allegations, the defendants’ response to the complaint focuses on the legality of the case being heard by the courts. It also argues the case against Doherty should be dismissed because he was not personally involved.

Bensky’s brief for the defendants focuses on six factors as reasons for dismissal of the case. They included a failure to meet the standard for a Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claim and the idea that First Amendment claims, in the context of college athletics, receive minimal protection. In the case of Duckett and Stauffacher, there was the passing of the statute of limitations to file a complaint.

Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh mentioned the lawsuit at the October athletic board meeting, but said there wasn’t much information he could share.

“Our initial response to the court is due on or before Dec. 8 and we are actively defending against those allegations, many of which lack full context or are simply false,” he told the board.

“The athletic department must adhere to strict federal laws requiring educational institutions to maintain privacy of student records and medical records therefore we cannot provide specifics to the media or general public absent authorizations for release of that information. If the litigation progresses in a manner that requires us to present the full factual record to the court we will be ready and look forward to providing that information.”