Lang
11/12/20
A group of former University of Iowa football players has officially filed a lawsuit they’d been threatening against the school.
The group’s attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons of Tulsa, OK, says the group is suing the UI and the Iowa Athletics Department for allegedly fostering what he calls “historic anti-black racism”.
The players, all of whom are black, include Akrum Wadley, Kevonte Martin-Manley, Maurice Fleming, Andre Harris, Marcel Joly, Aaron Mends, Jonathan Parker and Reggie Spearman. They claim the football program racially discriminated against them during their Hawkeye careers. The plaintiffs allege they were demeaned with racial slurs, forced to abandon Black hairstyles, fashion and culture to fit the “Iowa Way” promoted by the program, and retaliated against for speaking out.
Among the defendants are head coach Kirk Ferentz, assistant coach Brian Ferentz, Athletic Director Gary Barta, former strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, interim strength and conditioning coach Raimond Braithwaite, and the university itself.
Civil rights complaints have also been filed with the United States Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
The ex-players had originally asked for $20 million, tuition waivers for any black athlete who did not graduate under Ferentz, and the firing of the Ferentz’s and Barta. Those demands were withdrawn last week after the university refused to negotiate.