Lawsuit: Coaches overworked, belittled D-II team

A group of nine former Western Oregon women's basketball players have filed a lawsuit against the university, their former coaches and multiple school administrators, alleging multiple forms of abuse that included excessive practice conditions and inappropriate comments being made about players' bodies.

The lawsuit, filed in Marion County (Ore.) Circuit Court on Wednesday morning, seeks roughly $28 million. It has been expected since September, when the law firm representing the players filed a notice of claim that laid out various forms of abuse from coach Jessica Peatross and assistant coach DJ Marlow.

"Peatross and Marlow physically abused plaintiffs through using excessive and unreasonable amounts of exercise as punishment contrary to NCAA guidelines provided to all NCAA Division II schools, and emotionally abused and humiliated plaintiffs through disparaging comments about their bodies, tearing them down, belittling them, and telling them they were worthless," the lawsuit says.

The types of abuse alleged in the lawsuit includes unlawful First Amendment retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent retention and supervision, and use of police with intent to harm.

The university did not reply to a request Wednesday seeking comment.

Multiple players told ESPN that there were "red flags" immediately after Peatross and Marlow arrived at the school in June 2023, with Peatross making comments about players' bodies.

The lawsuit says Peatross and Marlow demanded junior guard Ana McClave attend workouts in August despite not being cleared medically after offseason knee surgery. When McClave declined, Peatross demanded to see the scar from her surgery and told McClave she was "weak" and "lazy" for not participating in the workouts, according to the lawsuit.

Three months later, McClave developed bronchitis. Despite providing a doctor's note, Peatross told her she still had to practice.

According to the former players, Peatross and Marlow ran extreme conditioning sessions that resulted in dehydration, fatigue and exhaustion and led to multiple overwork injuries within the team.

"I played at Western for five years, and as an athlete, you're built to be able to do conditioning, to be able to do a lot," said Cali McClave, a team captain last season. "A lot of it to do that is mental toughness, but they used it in the way of fear and a way of, 'I'm holding this over your head. I have all the power here.' Pretty much everyone was in the training room due to these coaches and that excessive running."

Jodi Noyes, a junior guard last season, told ESPN that Peatross and Marlow bullied her to stop taking an anti-depressant medication and that Peatross referred to her as "Eeyore," the depressed donkey character from Winnie-the-Pooh.

"[Peatross] was like, [the anti-depressant is] making you slow, maybe you should stop taking it," Noyes said. "Then she would question me before games and stuff being like, 'Did you take it today?' One time I missed a shot in the middle of a game and just wasn't playing good, and [Marlow] ripped me out. He was like, 'Jodi, did you take your pills today?'"

The coaches would also check with Noyes' teammates to see if they had knowledge if she was continuing to take her anti-depressant medication. She said she felt side effects after stopping the medication and later informed a trainer and athletic director Randi Lydum about the situation, "but nothing came out of it."

Cali McClave said she met with Lydum on multiple occasions in her capacity as team captain to inform her about Peatross and Marlow's abusive conduct. The initial feedback, McClave said, was encouraging and that she believed Lydum was going to take the complaints seriously.

However, after McClave, other players and their parents continued to make complaints to Lydum, they said the coaching staff retaliated against them with additional conditioning, reduced playing time and threats to kick them off the team.

"The coaches told plaintiffs that they were being 'dramatic' and were 'tattletales,'" the lawsuit says. "The coaches warned plaintiffs to never go over their heads again."

On Feb. 13, Peatross contacted local police to report an incident between her and freshman guard Hanne Hopkins. Peatross told police that Hopkins intentionally elbowed her in the chest, describing it as the worst pain she had ever experienced and saying it required a visit to the hospital.

Following the initial conversation with the police, Peatross was uncooperative, according to the police report, and the case was closed. An officer also reviewed footage of the incident and wrote in a report: "I reviewed the video and did not see anything in the video that supports the coach's claim that there was injury or physical pain caused to the coach as she immediately walked after the player and got into a verbal argument with her and other players."

On Feb. 19, Peatross and Marlow were placed on paid administrative leave and the university hired an outside law firm to investigate the allegations. The team voted to forfeit the final six games of the season.

The lawsuit alleges the process was a "sham investigation" that included interviews with only four of the 12 players who made complaints and that "the investigator did not request videos, emails, documents, or other recordings from plaintiffs."

Peatross and Marlow were reinstated in early April, after which six of the eight players with remaining eligibility that had made complaints were given the opportunity to meet with them. None of them were allowed to continue with the team.

"I was going to be a senior this year, and I had three classes from graduation," Noyes said. "I already transferred twice. I needed this place to be my home, and I was on a full tuition scholarship. And so I was like, 'I have to stay here.'

"I ended up meeting with the coaches because the email said that if you wanted to return, we needed to schedule a meeting with them and discuss moving forward. I went in there and was like, 'I want to play here next year. This is unfortunate, but I want to play.' And they were just like, 'No, you're not welcome back.' And they did that to everybody else as well that met with them, except for two girls that never complained."

Western Oregon, located in Monmouth, Oregon, competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Wolves are 7-10 this season and 3-6 in conference play.