The College of Kentucky filed a movement to dismiss 4 counts of a lawsuit accusing the varsity of negligence that enabled former swim coach Lars Jorgensen to sexually assault two former assistants.
Attorneys for UK argued that the college has sovereign immunity as a state establishment, the identical doctrine that forestalls folks from suing the U.S. authorities in lots of conditions. UK additionally claimed it ought to keep away from culpability for “vicarious legal responsibility” associated to Jorgensen’s actions as a result of they didn’t fall inside the scope of his employment.
Two former Wildcat swimmers filed a lawsuit in April alleging that UK’s athletic division was complicit in permitting Jorgensen to “foster a poisonous, sexually hostile setting inside the swim program and to prey on, sexually harass, and commit horrific sexual assaults and violent rapes towards younger feminine coaches and collegiate athletes who had been reliant on him.” A few of the alleged abuse occurred at group events that Jorgensen hosted at his home.
The 53-year-old Jorgensen resigned final summer time amid an investigation after a decade in Lexington, receiving a $75,000 settlement and foregoing the remainder of the $402,500 left on his contract via the 2024-25 season. He appeared in SafeSport’s disciplinary database in November for unspecified allegations of misconduct.
Former Kentucky swim coach Gary Conelly and present athletic director Mitch Barnhart are additionally named as defendants within the lawsuit together with Jorgensen and the college for his or her “deliberate indifference.” Kentucky’s Title IX workplace has reportedly identified since 2019 about accusations that Jorgensen had been in a relationship with one among his swimmers at Toledo and sexually assaulted a employees member at Kentucky. Within the lawsuit, former members of the Wildcats program say they had been “vigorously discouraged” by a Title IX officer from reporting Jorgensen’s abuse.
In UK’s most up-to-date response, attorneys declare the college acted in good religion, with out wrongful intent, and inside its authority as soon as complaints had been introduced. Final week, when the Wildcats had been hit with two years of probation for Stage II coaching violations beneath Jorgensen, UK president Eli Capilouto mentioned the “most severe of the allegations” solely turned identified when the lawsuit was filed.
In 2014, a former Toledo softball coach accused Jorgensen of getting a long-term romance with a swimmer, hiring her as an assistant coach, and finally selling her to go coach in a Title IX lawsuit the place he was one among three examples of male head coaches and directors who “dedicated far more egregious offenses” with out being fired. Conelly advised The Athletic that he appeared into that state of affairs and mentioned Jorgensen solely began courting her after she stopped swimming.
“This isn’t an unusual prevalence that there’s a relationship between a coach and an ex-swimmer,” mentioned Conelly, who additionally filed a separate movement to dismiss his involvement within the case as a result of he left Kentucky months after Jorgensen was employed.
Jorgensen has denied the allegations, however his lawyer has but to file a response in U.S. District Court docket in Lexington.
