Peyton Manning of Denver Broncos has been cited in a lawsuit filed against University of Tennessee by a group of women who formerly attended the school. The plaintiffs claim the University violated Title IX regulations in handling reports of sexual assaults by student athletes.
In a report by The Globe and Mail, Manning is one of the ten athletes named in the lawsuit made by six former female students. The women claimed that the school violated the regulations of the Title IX regulatins as the university created a "hostile sexual environment" towards claims of sexual abuse. Title IX regulations is a United States statute that bans discrimination regarding gender lines at schools that are receiving federal funding.
According to the lawsuit, the ten cited athletes sexually assaulted women during the mid-1990s. For the instance involving Manning, it has been alleged that he placed his naked genitals on the face of a female athletic trainer while she was examining the extent of an injury on his foot, New York Daily News reported. This happened back in 1996, when he was still a quarterback for the Volunteers at the University of Tennessee.
Manning has denied the incident, saying he was actually "mooning" a teammate. However, the trainer, identified as Dr. Jamie Naughright, who went by the name Jamie Whited in the past, sued him and described him as vulgar-mouthed in a book she wrote.
Malcolm Saxon, the player Manning allegedly targeted of "mooning", said the statements of the athlete were not true. The case was settled back in 1997 with the agreement that the trainer leave the university.
The Denver Post reported that the plaintiffs claim the policies of the University of Tennessee made students more vulnerable to sexual assaults, adding that the school interfered with the disciplinary process in order to favor their male athletes.
Regarding these claims, Bill Ramsey, the lawyer representing the university, said the school "acted lawfully and in good faith" to the instances outlined in the lawsuit.
