Coach-athlete sex, rape and PEDs at Huntington University? Nick Johnson scandal gets grimmer thanks to David Woods expose

Supertramp's niece must lose to Wiley a lot. Seems personal, not based in fact.

?

Needing 5 girls faster than Wiley to qualify (or at the very least do anything meaningful, like podium) at D1 NCAAs is a fact.

Lots of fast HS girls not doing anything meaningful (like all-american) after HS is a fact.

Assuming she did have to dope to be where she is today, it's a fact that she would not be as good as a clean runner.

Who knows for sure, but I have a good feeling 15 years from now we'll be saying that this scandal permanently tainting her career was a fact too.

I am going to ask some legal questions tonight from a longtime friend and retired lawyer. My initial read is that huntington is saying that none of the allegations align factually with what their internal review says occurred and a that the civil case would be more of a fact finding mission to find wrongs than actually prove in detail there were wrongs.

there are several cases in the different circuit appeals courts that outline pleading plausibility. Hungtington is saying the plaintiff's have no concise statement of factual wrongs that constitute a title IX claim.

I'll see if I can find out if this is procedural as Little states in his comments to inside higher ed.

I find it interesting that Huntington's release states the plaintiffs acknowledge that huntington acted appropriately to fire johnson when issues that occured outside of the school were known.

because yet again we know from police reports there was a lot of inappropriate activity reported to police that did occur within the huntington program.

Talked with an Indiana lawyer.

this is a standard move from an organization defendant in this sort of civil suit.

it basically states that the defense feels the plaintiff claim(s) lacks specificity of detail in the accusation and should be dismissed.

It buys the defendant more time to prepare their case.

if a federal judge were to dismiss the case the plaintiffs could refile the case with more detail.

the general feedback i got was that because this lawsuit makes statements about sexual misconduct/abuse in a relative time range between people and certain locations, it likely will not be dismissed by this legal maneuver. An indiana judge would allow it to move forward.

fortwaynesnbc.com

Huntington University seeks to dismiss discrimination lawsuit filed by former athletes

@FortWaynesNBC

Huntington University has filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit that was filed by former cross country athletes who are accusing their former coach of sexual abuse and a doping scheme.

Link:www.fortwaynesnbc.com/2022/11/28/hunti...

This article has a copy of the motion to dismiss.

I've read the motion to dismiss from Huntington. I certainly do not disagree with the plaintiff's lawyer's assessment that this is to be expected and no big deal. He / they would obviously know. Huntington U is seeking to have the suit dismissed because the plaintiffs allege that throughout the process HU violated Title IX protections ("no person in the US, shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."), but in the lawsuit, there is not any specific allegations brought forth of who (in a position of authority at HU) knew about the grievances, and failed to take appropriate action.

So, while I would relish HU being appropriately punished (possibly VERY severely), going by the plaintiff's lawsuit, there does not appear to be much there (regarding HU's culpability). If someone thinks otherwise, though, I would be all ears! Perhaps the lawsuit is saying that HU should have done better in its due diligence in hiring Nick Johnson in the first place because of his association with Salazar and the doping that occurred with NOP? Or, that Huntington should have known about the Johnsons being fired / kicked out of OTC?

Then, of course, if (and its a big if) it can be proven that HU knew about these associations (and implicitly saw the doping as a feature), then the hiring of Lauren makes more sense as it could possibly keep the overall band together, so-to-speak. Regarding Stoffel, I believe she was done with Huntington when Lauren took over, but Wilson was still there until 2021. So, then Wilson would be the nexxus as the one that would be harmed by the University's decision to hire Lauren.

Again, while not opposed to whatever may happen to HU, without any specifics to the allegations provided in the lawsuit, I view the case against HU violating Title IX to be a stretch. I think there would be plenty for HU to "reasonably" hire team Johnson (without even knowing about NOP, etc). The Johnsons were both Huntington U athletes themselves. And, while it ABSOLUTELY looks like a poor decision to hire LJ after firing Nick (especially in retrospect, and it would be even worse they reinstated her now, imo, obvi), she was the assistant coach at the time and seemingly capable (taking HU's perspective).

If HU's dismissal is rejected however, it appears that latitude could be given to explore the relationships of the Johnsons with NOP, OTC, Salazar, and the Begleys (to somehow prove that Huntington knew or should have known that the Johnsons were previously involved in doping). Needless to say, that could be interesting. The lawsuit mentions that Andrew Begley was a witness for USADA in the case against Alberto, but I am not aware of what his testimony was.

Again, the doping aspect (at least to me) appears to be the much more solid case for the plaintiffs against all of the defendants. My earlier assertion that Dirr "nuked" the case was incorrect in that while I think she does significantly undermine the salacious allegations (that obviously very well could have happened regardless of Nick's affair with Dirr) - that part of the case would have been 5X stronger if she joined as a plaintiff - I don't feel that her testimony completely obliterates the doping side as much (which ironically appears to be the part she particularly disagrees with because she feels her achievements were due solely to her hard work and not at all to doping).

TLDR, I know.

Questions that arise for me as we get more information about the situation and the Johnsons:

1. Has anyone looked into whether the USOPC and/or Nike was actually engaged in any studies of L-carnitine at the time that these injections took place? The Olympic Training Centers do not list any such trials or studies that I can find.

2. The Johnsons seem to be universally reviled in elite running circles and people associated with OTC have issued strong statements about these two getting what was coming to them. Does anyone have any insight as to whether this involves doping? Being garden variety a-holes? Pressuring others engage in swinging or some other depravity?

3. After the recent revelations in NXIVM sex cult trial, were the Johnsons possibly using their power to groom youngsters as members of a similar arrangement?

4. Does Nick Johnson have some sort of kompromat on the institution, donors, officials, his spouse, and the alleged victims still defending him? If they do not offer a full-throated defense, does he threaten release to ruin their careers and achievements?

I find it very strange that Huntington University hasn't sought to insulate themselves from the Johnson's alleged activities. Local legends or not, dismissing the Johnsons and their close assistants would have been the expedient move as soon as Nick Johnson was convicted. There would be some embarrassment over lax oversight and institutional naivete, but it would have been the easiest thing to renounce "behaviors antithetical to Christian values" unless strong evidence exists that university officials were complicit and willing enablers or that they failed to act when presented with evidence of wrongdoing.

The Daily Beast picks up the story:

thedailybeast.com

University Track Coach With ‘Close’ Ties to Nike Is Accused of Grooming Young Athletes

https://www.thedailybeast.com/authors/kate-briquelet

A cross-country coach has been accused of sexually abusing high-school and college runners and forcibly injecting them with drugs for a “study” he claimed was backed by Nike.

Link:www.thedailybeast.com/university-track...

This was an excellent article - Thanks for posting it Pavement88!

It does a great job of weaving the details of the police report and the allegations of the lawsuit together, but the author does not get out "over their skis" in portraying who Nick Johnson is. It is too bad that Nike, and others were unable to respond to comment. Finally, the article mentioned that more details will be added to the lawsuit in December, so that is something to look forward to.

I only found a couple of questionable parts. First, Jon Little (attorney for Wilson and Stoffel) says, "It’s not the strangers, it’s the non-biologically related males in your life you gotta look out for, and that’s what people don’t want to hear.” Is this statement from Little true? I was not aware that one can essentially dismiss related people in sexual assault cases. The other minor quibble I have with the article is that it says the lawsuit "also paints a picture of Johnson’s alleged inappropriate hugging and graphic sexual conversations", etc etc. I don't think it paints a picture, but rather instead very directly lowers the boom.

Talking with a coach close to the situation, there will most likely be another news article with new/updated information from the victims in the next week or so.

Wiley ran the 3000m last night. Looks like she’s staying in Huntington University.

Has anyone else been hearing that Lauren Johnson is attending Huntington University Track meets while under suspension form the program? I've heard she's attended at least one meet with the team.

I heard she was sitting on the homestretch of the meet this past weekend surrounded by HU athletes. Someone is getting horrible legal advise.

Or at least bad advice from the school. I do not believe that there has been any decision for the civil suit against the school/program/coaches to be dismissed. So Huntington would not be enforcing her suspension from the program given this info. which would more align with allegations that the program promoted athletes engaging with Nick after he was fired.

Apparently Lauren and Wiley ran a turkey trot together also.

what they do on their time is what it is. It's a tad different if the ex coach is disregarding a formal suspension from a program under surveillance from the NAIA.

Just in case anyone wants to know…Lauren was seen at the Indiana Tech meet this past weekend that HU attended surrounded by HU athletes while sitting on the homestretch…..

Saw this post on another site. Why would Huntington admistration allow her to be anywhere near the team if she just got fired.

I guess she was there to support her training partner/athlete/roommate.