WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Jurors may have the final say on the three remaining counts brought in a federal lawsuit that alleged hazing in Penn State University's football program.
A federal judge in Lycoming County ruled Thursday that three counts brought by former player Isaiah Humphries accusing ex-teammate Damion Barber of hazing may proceed, but the judge dismissed three other counts.
Humphries filed suit in 2020 and accused teammates of intimidation, abuse, theft and simulated sexual acts. He also claimed that he reported the harassment to the team's coaching staff, but to no avail.
An investigation by the university obtained statements from players who denied they witnessed sexual assault in the locker room.
However, at least one witness confirmed Barber committed "pretty much everything" included in the initial report — threatening new players, wrestling them and straddling them while naked and putting his genitals in the faces of others, according to a summary of the investigative report cited in court filings.
The school's investigation resulted in a charge of harassment, according to court filings.
Humphries — the son of former Penn State standout Jesse Humphries — joined the university as a freshman in January 2018 and transferred by the end of the year to the University of California at Berkley.
In his suit, Humphries named coach James Franklin, Barber and three other ex-teammates. In 2021, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann, of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, dismissed Franklin and Penn State from the suit because Humphries did not show how they could be held responsible for the acts of the players.
"His headline-generating complaint alleged that while a member of the University's football team, he was subjected to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by four of his teammates — to which the school and its football coach turned a blind eye," Brann wrote. "But for whatever his complaint possessed in attention-grabbing details, it lacked in substance."
The claims against Barber, however, moved forward. In November, Barber sought their dismissal by filing a motion for summary judgement and argued Humphries could not support the allegations he made.
"After failing to earn a regular playing role on the Penn State Football team, Humphries withdrew from the University and blamed his lack of team placement on Barber and the other defendants," wrote Barber's attorneys in their brief.
Brann, however, permitted three counts against Barber to move forward.
"A reasonable jury could conclude from the records of Penn State's investigation and punishment of Barber that he hazed and harassed Humphries," Brann wrote.
