08-07-2025
More plaintiffs expected in lawsuits alleging NC State ignored sex abuse
Three more plaintiffs accusing NC State University of ignoring sexual abuse by a former sports trainer may join federal lawsuits that are once again moving forward.
Since August 2022, three former male athletes have filed federal lawsuits accusing the university of not protecting them from Robert Murphy, a longtime director of sports medicine who plaintiffs say abused and harassed them.
Murphy, who resigned in 2022, has never been criminally charged.
A federal judge dismissed two of the lawsuits in 2023, one of which was revived in January after a successful appeal. During a June 18 hearing in a federal courthouse in New Bern, Kerry Sutton, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said she plans to add three more plaintiffs.
Any of these cases may face an uphill battle. NC State is vigorously challenging whether the plaintiffs have legal grounds to move forward, while stating that its defense in the case is independent of the university's stance against sexual exploitation on campus.
'Sexual misconduct of any kind is unacceptable, prohibited by NC State's policies, and in direct opposition to the mission, culture, and standards of the university,' the university wrote in a court filing seeking to have a case dismissed.
NC State spokesperson Mick Kulikowski declined to comment for this story, saying the university doesn't comment on pending litigation.
In August 2022 former soccer player Benjamin Locke filed a lawsuit against the university and others, contending campus officials failed to protect him from Murphy, who worked at State from 2012 to 2022.
Locke said Murphy abused him during what were supposed to be healing training sessions, touching his genitals dozens of times. Murphy took advantage of his powers to decide when student athletes were well enough to play again, Locke's lawsuit states.
The lawsuit contends campus athletic officials were grossly negligent for failing to take action after then men's soccer coach Kelly Findley reported his concerns about Murphy's behavior in 2016 to Senior Associate Athletic Director Sherard Clinkscales, the lawsuit states.
The school's lack of action after the report violates Title IX, federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination at federally funded schools, the lawsuit states.
Another former student, identified in court filings as John Doe, filed a lawsuit in February 2023 that alleged Murphy abused him twice under the guise of treating his injuries in 2015. A third identified as John Doe 2 filed a lawsuit in April 2023 that accused Murphy of touching a former athlete's genitals twice while the student attended State in 2020 and 2021.
In September 2023, U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan dismissed the first John Doe lawsuit after challenges from NC State, including that John Doe's alleged abuse took place in 2015 and that the lawsuits don't say the university received alleged notice of the abuse, required for the plaintiffs to be successful in holding the university responsible, until 2016.
Flanagan also dismissed the John Doe 2 case, agreeing with NC State's argument that Findley's alleged warning to Clinkscales about Murphy engaging 'in what he suspected was sexual grooming of male student athletes,' wasn't strong enough language to put the school on notice.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit found in January that the statement did meet the legal standard. 'Findley's report specified wrongful conduct that was sex-based, current, and committed by an employee with authority over student athletes,' the court ruled.
That sent the case back to North Carolina's eastern district court, allowing Benjamin Locke's and John Doe 2's cases to resume.
At a June 18 hearing, Sutton, the plaintiffs' attorney, said she planned to combine the two active cases and potentially revive the first John Doe case, according to a transcript of the hearing. She also plans to add three more plaintiffs to the lawsuits, she stated in court.
Sutton didn't provide any other details.
NC State's lawyers have signaled they have more challenges to offer.
That includes the university's claim that plaintiffs filed the lawsuits too late and that John Doe 2 shouldn't be allowed to stay anonymous.
The school also continues to challenge the alleged warning of abuse, needed for the cases to move forward. In addition to saying the warning's language wasn't strong enough, the university is also expected to argue that the wrong person was told. The university argues that head soccer coach Findley reporting to associate athletic director Clinkscales, and soccer coaches allegedly knowing about the alleged grooming, didn't meet the legal standard of notifying the school of abuse.
'Neither the alleged notice to Clinkscales nor the alleged knowledge of the head and assistant soccer coaches of suspected grooming behaviors is sufficient to establish that an NC State official with the requisite authority to address discrimination and to institute corrective measures had actual knowledge of discrimination,' university attorneys argue in court documents.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
Read 1st suit accusing NC State of failing to protect soccer player from sexual abuse
