Court of Appeals reopens former NC State athlete’s lawsuit against school in sexual abuse case

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal appeals court has reversed its decision to dismiss a former North Carolina State athlete’s lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused by the Wolfpack’s former director of sports medicine under the guise of medical treatment.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s decision to dismiss the April 2023 “John Doe 2” lawsuit against the school, citing Robert Murphy Jr.’s inappropriate touching. This followed similar lawsuits filed in August 2022 and February 2023.

Tuesday’s decision sends the case back to the district court.

As a result of this court’s 2023 dismissal of claims against NC State, all three lawsuits ruled that the school did not receive “actual notice” of the harassment. In the initial lawsuit in February 2016, former men’s soccer coach Kelly Findley told a senior athletics official that he suspected Murphy was “making contact … consistent with grooming behaviors,” but the school took no further action. .

The appeals court found that “objectively” it was an allegation that qualified as a notification. However, he noted that the lower court never determined whether the appropriate official had been notified, so he referred that question as well.

Former football player Benjamin Locke’s first lawsuit continued with Murphy as a named defendant. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault or abuse unless the person has spoken publicly, which Locke did.

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