The family of a former star basketball player is suing Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park (Ill.) alleging that its daughter was physically and psychologically bullied by teammates to the point she quit the team and left the school.
Kathleen Mulvey was a guard on the Sandburg High basketball team but she ended up transferring schools because the lawsuit claims coaches allowed her to be bullied without stopping the harassment.
Mulvey says she was bullied during practice, and even tore a tendon in her foot after being pushed from behind by one of the bullies while in the air for a layup. The coach said the play, which occurred during practice, was an accident.
Mulvey needed surgery and physical therapy to recover after tearing the tendon, and she became depressed. She was even diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and treated for depression.
“She couldn’t sleep at night. Kathleen would lay awake, sit up in our living room all night long. She had a lot of sadness,” mother Ellen Mulvey says. “The coach knew it was going on. He saw it on a daily basis, he heard it.”
Kathleen transferred to a private school in Connecticut because it was the only school that would accept a senior transfer, a move the family says cost $50,000.
“(Sandburg) officials did nothing to stop the bullying. After three years, some half-hearted effort was made to stop the bullying, but school personnel seemed to work against the efforts to stop the bullying,” the lawsuit says.
The family is suing the coach of the team and the school district for not stopping the alleged bullying. They’re asking for over $500,000 to cover the cost of the surgery, physical therapy, school transfer, and psychological damage.
Mulvey averaged 15 points and four assists per game in her sophomore season, according to her recruiting profile. Her profile also says she was selected to represent the USA in the Summer 2012 World Games.
Below is her recruiting video:
Picture via CBS Chicago
