In Winfree v. Warren County School Dist., decided last month by Judge Travis McDonough (E.D. Tenn.), plaintiff was a girls' high school basketball player, who "had been offered a full scholarship to play basketball at Trevecca Nazarene University":
On November 15, 2023, Defendant Mendy Stotts, the women's basketball coach, pulled Plaintiff out of practice to speak with her in the hallway. Stotts "yell[ed]" at Plaintiff, "saying she was tired of [Plaintiff's] disrespect towards her" and accused Plaintiff of calling her the "f-word" during practice. Stotts told Plaintiff that "[Stotts] no longer wanted her as part of the basketball team." That same night, Plaintiff emailed Phillip King, one of the school's athletic directors, to request a meeting.
The next day, on November 16, 2023, Plaintiff and her mother met with King and Assistant Principal Anna Geesling to discuss the incident. Plaintiff's mother explained that she had never heard about any disciplinary proceedings prior to Plaintiff being kicked off the team. Another meeting was held the next day, this time with King, Principal Chris Hobbs, Stotts, Plaintiff, her parents, her grandparents, and a family friend.
At the meeting, Stotts said she had evidence that Plaintiff said "the f-word," while Plaintiff stated that there were witnesses who would testify that she did not say the "f-word." Plaintiff was not allowed to present those witnesses. At the end of meeting, Stotts dismissed Plaintiff from the basketball team. Hobbs upheld Stotts's decision. Two weeks after Plaintiff was dismissed from the team, Trevecca Nazarene rescinded her scholarship offer. Plaintiff alleges she also "had anticipated" scholarship offers from Middle Tennessee State University and Tennessee Tech University, but these offers never came….
