A former Virginia Tech soccer player filed a federal lawsuit that argues her coach “subjected her to verbal abuse” and forced her off the team because she refused to kneel before a game.
Former player Kiersten Hening filed the suit against coach Charles Adair last month, alleging that Adair led a “campaign of abuse and retaliation” after she refused to join her teammates in kneeling before a game.
“Hening’s stance was costly – too costly,” the lawsuit reads. “Her coach dislikes Hening’s political views. Because she refused to kneel, he benched her, subjected her to repeated verbal abuse, and forced her off the team.”
Hening’s suit says she “supports social justice and believes black lives matter” but “does not support the BLM organization.”
The lawsuit contends that Adair “singled her out” during halftime of a Sept. 12 game for not kneeling.
“Coach Adair berated Hening for her stance. He singled her out and verbally attacked her, pointing a finger directly in her face. He denounced Hening for ‘bitching and moaning,’ for being selfish and individualistic, and for ‘doing her own thing.’”
The suit seeks Adair attend “First Amendment training” and that Hening be reinstated on the team, as well as monetary awards.
“Coach Adair’s campaign of abuse and retaliation made conditions for Hening so intolerable that she felt compelled to resign. Hening did not want to leave,” the lawsuit reads.
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Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made waves when he became the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and systemic racism.
The act of protest has since spread to every major sports league in the wake of George Floyd’s death last year in Minneapolis.
Virginia Tech’s athletic director did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the lawsuit.
