17 more athletes join lawsuit vs. ex-NC State sports medicine director

An additional 17 former male student-athletes at North Carolina State have joined a lawsuit accusing the university’s former sports medicine director, Robert Murphy, of “sexual misconduct, sexual harassment and sexual exploitation.” The amended complaint, filed late Friday night, takes the number of plaintiffs to 31.

The lawsuit also names senior athletic department administrators as defendants, saying student-athletes reported the misconduct but the defendants failed to take action. It accuses him of “deliberate, wanton and/or reckless” conduct that was “committed in deliberate and flagrant disregard and indifference to the rights and safety of others.”

The lawsuit was first filed in Wake County Superior Court in September. A separate case is currently filed against the university in the North Carolina Industrial Commission, a state agency that has sole jurisdiction to adjudicate negligence cases against state public entities. That case has been put on hold pending the resolution of the civil case.

“The health and safety of students and student-athletes is paramount to NC State Athletics and the university,” a university spokesperson said in a statement Monday. “Sexual misconduct of any kind is unacceptable, prohibited by NC State policies, and in direct conflict with the university’s mission, culture, and standards. NC State is reviewing the lawsuit and determining appropriate next steps.”

The spokesperson said the school would not comment beyond the statement. An attorney listed for Murphy did not respond to ESPN’s request for comment.

The amended complaint accuses Murphy of misconduct during his 2012-2022 tenure at the school, in which he “used his position of trust and confidence to sexually assault, abuse, harass and/or condition Plaintiffs into submitting to the student-athletes for necessary medical care and treatment.”

Former student-athletes allege that Murphy inappropriately touched their waists during massage treatments or made them uncomfortable during “unnecessary urine sample collection methods” during mandatory drug testing.

One of the two named plaintiffs, Ben Locke, said he had to shower in front of Murphy less than 24 hours after surgery, under the guise that Murphy would help wrap the player’s bandages and make sure he did not get wet. Locke said he did not feel competent to interrogate Murphy given his role in sports medicine.

The complaint also alleges that athletes discussed Murphy’s “propensity to come into the locker room showers, watch male student athletes while they shower, and stare at their genitals.” The plaintiffs say the behavior was so widespread that it was known as the “Rob Murphy Special”, and he shared a “joke” that “if you get a headache, [Murphy] Probably was going to touch your private parts. The lawsuit alleges that one plaintiff complained of back pain, which Murphy treated with back massage.

The plaintiffs say they first reported their complaints to men’s soccer head coach Kelly Findley in 2012, who allegedly reported them to athletic department administrators. He says Murphy was reassigned to other teams but returned to work with the football team in 2014.

Kerry Sutton, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said student-athletes from eight different sports teams, all men, have come forward so far in the lawsuit and that she is “hopeful.”[s] “We look forward to hearing from more men in the coming days who were sexually harassed or assaulted by Mr. Murphy.”