Former Pine-Richland football coach Eric Kasperowicz suing district, officials for defamation in federal court

Former Pine-Richland head football coach Eric Kasperowicz has filed a federal defamation lawsuit against the school district and several top officials claiming they damaged his reputation by publicly accusing him of knowing about hazing and bullying in the football program and failing to report it to authorities.

Kasperowicz was informed on April 14 that his contract would not be renewed for what would have been a ninth season. He began coaching at Pine-Richland in 2013 and led the team to four WPIAL championships and two state titles. He recently was named a volunteer assistant coach for the Pitt Panthers.

In May, Kasperowicz’s lawyer, Joel Sansone, filed a similar defamation lawsuit against the district in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

At the time, Kasperowicz said he was taking action because the accusations made against him are false and his reputation has been severely damaged by the public comments made by district officials.

The federal lawsuit filed on Aug. 18 by Sansone names the school district as a defendant along with Superintendent Brian Miller, school board President Peter Lyons and high school assistant principal Thomas Salopek.

At issue are several public comments made by district officials that Kasperowicz contends are false and damaged his reputation.

The lawsuit contends that all of the accusations leveled against him are not only false, but that district officials knew they were untrue.

District officials released the following statement regarding the lawsuit: “The district and the school board do not comment on matters of pending litigation. At this time, we have not had an opportunity to receive or review the complaint. There will be no further comment at this time.”

The first statement cited in the lawsuit occurred in mid-April when Salopek allegedly told “at least three students” that the district “has information that would ruin (Kasperowicz’s) reputation.”

Those comments were followed by statements made April 20 by Lyons during a news conference in which the board president alleged that Kasperowicz “was aware of and/or condoned hazing, intimidation, bullying and rites of passage within the district’s football program under his leadership,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleges that Lyons publicly accused Kasperowicz of failing to report the incidents.

Kasperowicz “was unaware of such conduct,” according to the lawsuit, which notes that as a mandatory reporter, the former coach was aware that he could be held criminally liable if he failed to notify authorities of such incidents.

The lawsuit also cites a May 7 interview Miller conducted with members of the media during which he stated that there were a “series of events that have been orchestrated by (Kasperowicz) and others that put students in the middle.”

Miller also claimed during that interview that Kasperowicz was aware of incidents of “intimidation, humiliation, fights and rites of passage” within the football program that were not reported to authorities, the lawsuit states.

The superintendent’s media interview was followed by a letter he sent to parents in which, Kasperowicz alleges, false and defamatory statements were made, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit notes that Miller accused the former coach of failing to report “a culture of hazing and emotional and physical bullying and intimidation that arose in and around the football program, particularly in the locker room, for years.”

Kasperowicz also said his reputation was damaged by comments that he had previously been placed on a performance improvement plan, in part, for failing to report “serious matters.”

In addition to reporting “any and all known concerns throughout his tenure as head football coach to the appropriate persons,” Kasperowicz said, the performance improvement plan “never referenced an alleged failure to report.”

Kasperowicz is seeking a jury trial for the case and is asking for compensatory as well as punitive damages against the district and the three school officials named in the lawsuit.