Attorneys for the University of Dayton deny hazing took place in answer to a lawsuit filed by a former football player at the school and have asked a judge to dismiss the case.
The former athlete, Max Engelhart, filed suit last month in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, claiming he was forced to chug high-alcohol drinks as part of a “Mad Dogs” initiation to the UD football team two years ago.
Defendants include UD football coach Rick Chamberlin, strength coach Jared Phillips and others.
Engelhart claims in the lawsuit that the hazing left him with a cognitive brain injury.
In their motion to dismiss, UD attorneys deny hazing took place and wrote that “the alleged acts of December 7, 2014 – even if forced on him by upperclassmen – therefore had nothing to do with his ‘initiation into’ the team, and cannot support a cognizable claim of hazing under Ohio law.”