Editor’s note: This story contains allegations of sexual and racial harassment detailed in court documents that some readers may find disturbing.
The jury deliberated for less than 2 1/2 hours before reaching a unanimous verdict.
A Spokane County jury on Thursday awarded $17 million in damages to two former Mead High School football players and their families in a civil lawsuit stemming from allegations of sexual and racial hazing during a 2023 football camp.
The jury deliberated for less than 2 1/2 hours before reaching a unanimous verdict.
The prizes include:
-
$8 million to one former student.
-
$500,000 to that student’s mother.
-
$500,000 to that student’s father.
-
$7 million to a second former student.
-
$500,000 to that student’s mother.
-
$500,000 to that student’s father.
Damages total $17 million.
The Mead School District released the following statement following the ruling:
“The jury has reached a verdict and we respect the process that led to this outcome. We are very aware that two former students and their families have suffered harm, and that recognition will always come before anything we could say. This matter has had a significant impact on those involved, their families and our school community.
We remain committed to the continuous improvement process as a result of what we have learned from these events. Our primary focus is to ensure that every student in our district is safe, supported and protected.
The district will have no further comment until we have had time to carefully consider the most appropriate next steps.”
UPDATE: June 25, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Attorneys for both sides concluded their closing arguments today at noon. The jury deliberation is underway.
Jury selection is now underway in Spokane County in a civil suit seeking damages following what court documents describe as a 2023 hazing incident at Eastern Washington University’s summer football camp involving Mead High School football players.
SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. – Jury selection is now underway in a civil suit seeking damages following what court documents describe as a 2023 hazing incident at Eastern Washington University’s summer football camp involving Mead High School football players.
Court documents describe the hazing, called “sacrifice,” as the practice of inserting a “pulsing massage gun” between the victim’s legs.
“The sacrifice constitutes a form of sexual harassment, intimidation and bullying against targeted members of Mead’s athletic teams,” the complaint reads. “Plaintiff is just one of several male athletes who have been attacked over the years.”
According to court documentsa mixed-race person attended the 2022 summer camp, and while there, “some of the player’s white teammates insulted him with racial epithets.”
According to prosecutors, this first victim was dragged from his dorm through two flights of stairs to another room, passing by an adult chaperone.
An adult supervisor saw this and asked what the boys were doing, but took no further action, according to the complaint.
Afterward, the complaint says more than two dozen teammates witnessed the teen being pinned down, most of his clothes stripped off and a massage gun pushed into his genitals.
After these events, the complaint explains that the teen walked more than a mile to a relative’s home.
The complaint says no coach tried to find him or contact his parents, and he asked to leave camp early the next morning.
Video was taken of the attack, the complainants said, and it was shared for months among teammates, even among sons of Mead’s football coaches.
At the victim’s request, his family left the Mead School District that year.
Prior to the same camp in 2023, the harassment escalated and became overtly racist in nature, according to the filing.
“Encouraged by a culture of impunity, a group of upper-class white people targeted younger black players,” the complaint reads. “At the start of camp, these white players declared that an attack on these black players was coming.”
One student told at least one coach that a group of older white players were going to “rape” him, and the complaint says the coaching staff did nothing.
That student was later pinned down and attacked in the same manner as the first victim, the complaint states, and the incident was re-recorded by several players.
In the rest of the camp, it is said that the group of older players mocked him and said things along the lines of, “Look, the monkey is quiet now, maybe we should do that to him more often.”
At this point, the court documents allege that the complainants’ son “tried to do the right thing” by warning two other black players that they would be targeted. Another student hid them in their room.
The plaintiff’s son confronted the group of older students to tell them to stop attacking teammates and, according to the complaint, his “courage was met with brutality.” He was treated the same as the other two students, and a video was taken of the incident.
According to the complaint, a parent shared video of the attack with Mead athletic director John Barrington in early July. A few days later, he was approached by head coach Keith Stamps about the offense.
Stamps told him the issue would be resolved, but the complaint says it went nowhere after the coach learned the students accused of the attacks were “standout players.”
Instead of following mandatory reporting lawswhich dictates in Washington that authority figures report child abuse to police, the complaint says Stamps chose to speak informally with some of the players.
Prosecutors said those chats didn’t work.
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office claims it has found enough evidence to…
“Over the next few months, black players were called the n-word,” the complaint said. “They were called ‘monkeys’; they were called ‘traitors’; they were told they needed to be ‘leashed’; they were told they deserved to be attacked because ‘black people squeak.'”
According to the complaint, the harassment against the plaintiff’s son also continued and no one in the Mead School District offered support until nearly eight months later. He ultimately left the district before the 2023-2024 school year ended.
Several school administrators, including Stamps, Barrington and Mead High School principal Kimberly Jensen, were all aware of the allegations and did not escalate concerns to law enforcement, the complaint said.
The parents of a former Mead High School student are taking legal action against the school district and 10 other students over allegations that the other students molested and physically abused their son and racially harassed others.
In March, a judge in Washington state ruled that the district was liable for failing to protect students from “foreseeable harm,” also saying it failed to enforce mandatory reporting laws.
A judge ruled that the Mead School District is liable for failing to protect students from hazing, sexual assault and gender discrimination involving the Mead High School football team.
In the case of the plaintiff who protected two Black teammates, according to court documents, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese said the district engaged in gender discrimination.
Following the ruling, the Mead School District sent a statement to The Spokesman-Review saying it was “committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all students and staff.”
“Discriminatory harassment in any form has no place in our schools and will never be tolerated,” the statement read. “The Mead School District also will not tolerate any personnel who fail to act in accordance with their training and professional responsibilities regarding any form of discriminatory harassment. The district understands that it is legally responsible for the actions of its employees, even if they fail to follow their training, district policies and their legal obligations.”
Plese also ruled in May that the district is liable for racial discrimination related to the other case before the judge.
These two cases of both minors and their parents, combined, and a jury selected by the jury, began Monday to determine what damages will be awarded.
According to court documents, the plaintiffs have not set a specific amount for damages.
Instead, they are asking for damages “in an amount equal to the amount necessary to provide full compensation for plaintiff’s injuries, including but not limited to their economic damages, pain, mental anguish, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.”
It is unclear whether the plaintiffs will provide a monetary amount for the jury’s consideration, or whether guidelines for a specific amount will be included in the jury instructions.
According to a court order, neither the plaintiffs, Mead High School, nor their representation can make a statement to the media during the duration of the trial.
