Ohio student sues school and sports coaches for forcing him to eat pizza

An Ohio high school student has filed a lawsuit against his former school and sports coaches after they forced him to eat a pepperoni pizza against his religion.

The 17-year old student, known in court documents as KW or Junior, argues that his former coaches, who knew that he was a member of the Hebrew-Israelite faith and did not consume pork products, forced him to eat a whole pepperoni pizza as a consequence of missing a workout last May.

According to the complaint filed last week, coaches at the Canton McKinley high school in Stark county, Ohio, forced Junior to eat the pizza in the middle of a gymnasium after he was unable to attend a weight-lifting session due to a shoulder injury.

Junior asserts that at the time of the incident, he had been a member of the football team for two and a half years and that coaches were aware of his dietary restrictions.

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Junior “reminded defendants’ employees that he does not eat pork, due to his religious beliefs - In fact, Junior kicked the pizza box away from him, refusing to touch the pork pepperoni pizza - Defendants’ employees retrieved the pizza box and again ordered Junior to eat the pork pepperoni pizza,” the complaint said.

It added: “Junior stated a minimum of 10 times that he did not eat pork or pork residue - At this point, defendants’ employees then stated that Junior could remove the pork pepperoni slices; however, the residue was clearly still covering the pizza and Junior continued to object.”

When his coaches then threatened to remove him from the team, Junior ate the pizza with the pepperoni residue.

The federal civil rights lawsuit alleges that the coaches’ “anti-Semitic and shameful” behaviour caused Junior to suffer “substantial permanent injury”. It also argues that the coaches violated Junior’s first and 14th amendment constitutional rights by infringing his right to exercise freedom of religion and denying him due process and equal protection.

As a result, Junior and his parents are seeking over $12m in damages from the school district and coaching staff.

He has since transferred to another school and football programme.

Seven coaches were fired in June after the incident.

Peter Pattakos, an attorney for most of the former coaches, argued that his clients are the "real victims in this matter", were wrongly terminated and have sued for defamation. - Guardian