Former Virginia Tech soccer player Kiersten Hening has finally won her lawsuit against her former coach. Kiersten accused her former coach, Charles Adair, of limiting her playtime after she allegedly refused to take a knee before a game. The incident took place in September 2020 before the season opener against the University of Virginia.
+ Mandatory diversity and inclusion training for student-athletes, athletic department and conference staff
+ ACC Unity Symbol on display in venues and video boards
+ ACC Unity Statement to be read prior to every league contest https://t.co/JXMYPKDAYe— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) September 3, 2020
Prior to the game, the Atlantic East Conference’s Unity Statement, in the backdrop of George Floyd’s murder due to police brutality, was being read out on loudspeakers. While most of the soccer players took a knee during the statement, Kiersten Hening refused to do so.
She was joined by her two other teammates, who are against the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. As per reports, Hening’s other pro-BLM teammates complained to their coach about Hening’s actions.
The coach, Charles Adair, reportedly berated and verbally abused Hening for her actions, and proceeded to bench her. After removing Hening from the starting XI, coach Adair benched her for the next two games, which prompted Hening to quit the team altogether, sighting the coach’s “campaign of abuse and retaliation”. Kiersten, albeit, has been a starter for the Virginia Tech team since 2018.
Hening, thus, proceeded to file a lawsuit against her ex-coach, Charles Adair. In her lawsuit, Hening stated that she “supports social justice and believes that black lives matter,” but she “does not support BLM the organization.” The BLM movement’s “tactics and the core tenets of its mission statement, including defunding the police.” are what she doesn’t support, according to her.
What was the judge’s ruling in the lawsuit of Kiersten Hening?
U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen was in charge of Kiersten Hening’s lawsuit against her former team and coach. Judge Cullen was appointed by the then President of the U.S.A, Donald Trump. In response to Hening’s lawsuit, Virginia Tech’s team of lawyers, on behalf of coach Adair, stated that the coach’s decision to put a curb on Hening’s playtime was solely based on her below-par performance.
Although Adair’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case, Judge Cullen ruled against it. Judge Thomas Cullen acknowledged that Hening’s playtime had indeed reduced after the incident. He wrote, “Hening’s well-known conservative leanings and lack of support for BLM … support an inference that Adair had a retaliatory motive when he criticized, and later benched, Hening.”
Judge Thomas Cullen held that “Ultimately, Adair may convince a jury that this coaching decision was based solely on Hening’s poor play during the UVA game, but the court, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Hening, cannot reach that conclusion as a matter of law”
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 11, 2022
The civil case was scheduled for a trial on January 18, 2023. However, according to reports from The Roanoke Times, both parties have agreed to settle. The statement will not include the acknowledgment of any wrongdoing from the parties. However, Kiersten Hening will reportedly receive $100,000 from the settlement.
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