Ex-Northwestern Coach Seeks To Dismiss Ex-Cheerleader's Lawsuit

EVANSTON, IL — The former Northwestern University spirit squad coordinator has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former cheerleader accusing the fired coach of forced labor, sex trafficking and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Pam Bonnevier spent more than a decade in charge of Northwestern's cheerleading team, which is not an NCAA-sanctioned sport. Other than the motion she filed last month, she has not publicly commented about the allegations against her.

The longtime cheer coach was terminated on Oct. 31, 2020, following a Title IX investigation into allegations of pervasive sexual harassment by former cheerleader Hayley Richardson, according to the federal civil lawsuit Richardson filed earlier this year.

Richardson's suit alleges that she complained about specific acts of sexual harassment and assault at the hands of football fans and university donors, but Bonnevier and other university officials "mocked" her status as a victim and failed to take appropriate actions.

The former cheerleader said she and other members of the squad were repeatedly groped during tailgates, where they were required to mingle with fans and financial contributors. According to the suit, the cheerleading program functioned as an illegal sex trafficking operation where spirit squad members were coerced into "commercial sex acts."

Richardson's suit alleges university officials and staff violated prohibitions on "trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor," "sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion" and "forced labor" contained in the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, or TVPRA.

It also seeks damages from Bonnevier and university officials for intentional infliction of emotional distress, or IIED.

According to Bonnevier's motion, there are no allegations in Richardson's complaint that anyone donated to Northwestern or gave anyone anything of value in exchange for inappropriate encounters with cheerleader.

"There is certainly room to call out and criticize the improper conduct of those men who inappropriately touch women, especially as exemplified by the 'creepy fan' interactions [Richardson] allegedly endured," Bonnevier argues. "But neither the TVPRA nor Illinois common law on IIED impose civil liability on cheerleading coaches for the reprehensible behavior of some intoxicated football fans."

Bonnevier also said nothing in the cheerleader‘s complaint plausibly suggested that the coach knew or should have known that her salary was supported by donations made in exchange for groping cheerleaders at university events.

The motion said that since Richardson received less than $10,000 over two years in cheerleading scholarships to Northwestern — where annual tuition was more than $70,000 — the fear that she might have to pay some of it back if she quit the squad did not rise to the level of "force, fraud [or] coercion" described by the federal anti-trafficking act.

"Likewise, even if the Spirit Squad could be characterized as a 'sex trafficking venture' (it cannot), [Richardson's] purported concerns that quitting the team might compromise her modest Spirit Squad scholarships or require her to reimburse certain unquantified travel expenses, does not demonstrate that she lacked 'free will' to leave the Spirit Squad, as required under the TVPRA['s forced labor prohibition,]" Bonnevier argued.

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According to Bonnevier's motion, the claims of intentional emotional distress should be dismissed — not only because the two-year statute of limitations bars claims based on conduct prior to Jan. 29, 2019 — but also because the conduct Richardson's complaint attributes to her former coach does not rise to the level of "extreme and outrageous," the suffering described in the complaint does not qualify as "severe emotional distress" and "there are no allegations establishing a causal connection between those purported symptoms and Bonnevier’s alleged conduct."

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Attorneys for the university and three of its other then-employees named as defendants in the suit filed a motion to dismiss much of the rest of the allegations in Richardson's complaint in April.

One of those employees, longtime Deputy Athletic Director Mike Polisky, resigned from the university in May, less than 10 days after Northwestern University President Morty Schapiro promoted him to athletic director. Derrick Gragg was appointed athletic director last month.

Polisky said he wished he had been more "empathetic" in dealing with Richardson's complaints, according to audio of a secretly recorded meeting obtained by WBEZ.

"As a father of two daughters, this cannot happen to anybody," Polisky reportedly told students and staff shortly before his resignation. "And by the way, our mascot, we came to learn, also had been inappropriately touched at tailgates out on the road. It's not acceptable."

Northwestern officials have previously denied that representatives of the institution broke the law.

"The University has reviewed the complaint and denies that Northwestern violated any law, including Title IX," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We are vigorously fighting the claims and have filed a motion to dismiss most of the complaint, including the individual defendants."

Richardson's attorneys have until July 23 to file a response to the motions to dismiss her complaint, according to court records. Bonnevier must file her reply by Aug. 23, while the other defendants, all of whom are being represented by the university's attorneys, must reply by Aug. 16.