Florida High School Baseball Players Sue District Over Alleged Harassment
The players allege that they weathered racial slurs, bullying, and hazing from fellow teammates.

Mike Blake/Reuters
Two former Florida high school baseball players allege that they weathered racial slurs, bullying, harassment, hazing, and “sexual depravity” from their fellow teammates while their coaches did nothing to stop it, according to a new lawsuit. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the families of Jay King, 18, and Judah Norwood, 17, who played ball for East Lake High School, filed the negligence suit last week in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court. “I’m not a liar,” King recently told the Pinellas County School Board, which is also named in the suit. “Everything I said is true. Hazing, sexual harassment and bullying did occur.” King and Norwood alleged that the harassment first began before the start of the 2017-18 baseball season after they refused to participate in a “hazing ritual” called the “Oreo Run,” where the athletes race each other with a cookie between their buttocks. “The school system is under a duty to supervise,” Todd Hoover, the attorney representing the families, was quoted as saying in the report. “There was a lack of adequate supervision.” School district spokesperson Lisa Wolf told the newspaper both an internal and external investigation “found there was no negligence on the part of our staff.” Wolf reportedly declined to answer a question on whether the district had looked into allegations of racial and sexual harassment.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
