Hoopers get second shot at suit over assaults by coach’s husband

Then-freshmen on the Eastern New Mexico University women’s basketball team say their head coach forced them to receive physical therapy “treatments” from her husband, who repeatedly sexually assaulted them.(CN) — Three women who accuse Eastern New Mexico University of enabling their sexual assault by their basketball coach’s husband will return to court after the 10th Circuit revived their Title IX challenge.A three-judge panel on Tuesday reversed summary judgment in favor of the school and its athletic director, Paul Weir, finding that he and the university could have prevented the multiple sexual assaults that occurred between January and October 2022.“Schools cannot be held vicariously liable for the misconduct of their agents, but a school may be directly liable for its deliberate indifference to known misconduct,” Senior U.S. Circuit Judge David M. Ebel wrote in a 25-page opinion.Because Glen de los Reyes was not an employee of Eastern New Mexico, the university argued it can’t be held liable because it had no authority to discipline him. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory B. Wormuth agreed, granting summary judgment on two Title IX claims and declining jurisdiction on remaining state law claims in a March 2025 order.On appeal, the 10th Circuit disagreed.“Here, AD Weir was pragmatically capable of “curtailing [Glen’s] privileges” of access to its female athletes by instructing its coaches not to refer nor transport their players to Glen, by banning Glen from campus, which the university ultimately did months after the allegations first arose, or by instructing its female athletes (over whom it clearly had control) that they could not have contact with Glen nor go to his and Coach Meghan’s home.”Eastern New Mexico University hired Meghan de los Reyes as head women’s basketball coach in July 2021. Her husband Glen, a “biomechanics specialist” and owner of Glen’s Fitness Lab, provided physical therapy “treatments” to athletes on campus until January 2022, when head athletic trainer Danielle Torossi raised liability concerns.After that, Meghan de los Reyes required her players to see her husband Glen in her own home. The plaintiffs say she would retaliate against players who refused with lower playing time.In spring 2022, Torossi reported the sexual assault of a female athlete to Wier, who apparently did not believe it and took no action, according to her former players.“ENMU’s indifference to the danger its student-athletes were being exposed to does not demonstrate ENMU’s lack of control over Glen,” wrote Ebel, a Ronald Reagan appointee. “Instead, it is this very deliberate indifference that could itself subject ENMU to liability.”Beginning in August 2022, three freshman basketball players say they and others were forced to go “one-by-one” into a private room with Glen de los Reyes for “treatment” before leaving mandatory team dinners at the de los Reyes house. In those treatment sessions, they say Glen de los Reyes repeatedly touched their genitals and breasts despite their protests. On one occasion, one of the plaintiffs accuses Meghan de los Reyes of withholding the woman’s car keys until she agreed to “receive treatment,” during which Glen de los Reyes forced her onto her back and rubbed his genitals on her.“AD Weir also could have told Coach Meghan not to hold mandatory team dinners at the de los Reyes home anymore,” Ebel wrote. “And, of course, AD Weir had the power to discipline Coach Meghan.”After the plaintiffs reported the assaults in October 2022, they claim Weir met with Glen de los Reyes. The self-titled biomechanics specialist purportedly explained that the inappropriate touching was simply his method of identifying “sensory imbalances” in the body. The players say this explanation was enough for Weir, who in that same meeting offered to make Glen de los Reyes an official volunteer, apparently still concerned over liability.“The facts of this case demonstrate the fundamental flaw with applying a narrow, formalistic approach of considering only the direct legal power of the school to control the offender,” Ebel wrote. “Here, ENMU asserts it had no control over Glen because he was not a formal volunteer. Though AD Weir offered Glen the opportunity to become a formal volunteer, Glen declined this offer, and yet he continued to treat student-athletes. Had Glen signed the form AD Weir sent him and became a formal volunteer, then ENMU would have had the requisite control over him”According to court documents, Glen de los Reyes told Weir that he recorded video of each treatment session without consent of the women “to avoid later claims of misconduct.” It’s unclear whether anyone at the university reviewed that footage.He continued “treating” college athletes for some time after that October meeting, though not any of the three plaintiffs. One plaintiff reported the assaults to her career counselor later that month, finally prompting an investigation.Glen de los Reyes wasn’t criminally trespassed from campus until February 2023.Neither party has replied to a request for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads