Judge tosses suit accusing former University of South Alabama volleyball coach of sexual harassment

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit accusing the former University of South Alabama volleyball coach of sexually harassing some of her players.

The lawsuit, filed last year by eight women who played on the volleyball team in 2019 and 2020, accused then-Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell of touching the women inappropriately – including pinching them on the buttocks – and coercing them into playing while hurt. The suit also alleged that the coach “used psychological and emotional manipulation and intimidation” and accused university administrators of failing to stop the coach’s conduct.

But U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose ruled that Meeks-Rydell and five other defendants were entitled to “qualified immunity,” which grants government employees broad protection from lawsuits except in extreme cases. In addition to the coach, the judge ruled in favor of Athletic Director Joel Erdmann, two associate athletic directors and a pair of assistant volleyball coaches. The judge also threw out a claim against the university under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs could not immediately be reached for comment. But the university praised the decision.

“We’re pleased that the Court agreed with our position on this matter,” the school said in a statement.

Meeks-Rydell resigned from the college in 2021. She then was hired at Purdue University-Fort Wayne but did not work there at the time of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit failed to overcome a legal burden that stops many lawsuits against government officials before plaintiffs even have a chance to argue their cases in front of juries. The Supreme Court in the 1960s recognized qualified immunity to protect government officials from second-guessing during the performance of their duties.

The concept has come under fire in recent years from critics who contend that it has led to gross abuses of power. But the courts have allowed lawsuits only when the alleged conduct violates a “clearly established” right.

The courts have ruled that even if conduct by a government official would amount to a civil violation under state law, he or she is immune from federal suits unless the behavior also “shocks the conscience.”

DuBose ruled that the allegations in the volleyball suit do not rise to that level.

“Simply put, Plaintiffs have failed to plausibly allege any conscience-shocking conduct by any of these Defendants,” she said.

The judge cited a number of cases where the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. That includes a high school student who was electrocuted during a voltage-reading demonstration in class; a case in Georgia in which a student accused a professor at a military college of slamming a door in her face, shattering her arm; and a lawsuit in Miami in which a firefighter alleged that his colleagues threw him to the floor and handcuffed him while another firefighter straddled him naked.

Although the judge’s ruling ends the federal lawsuit, the plaintiffs still may pursue a civil complaint in state court.

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