What Can Be Done?

[Taijijj64]

What is the name of your state? Florida

Without going into great detail this situation is as follows - my daughter played basketball at XXX High School for the 2016-2017 and half of the 2017-2018 seasons for the varsity team. The first year was fine, but in the second season, she was treated very differently, in fact we are contending that she was bullied, not only by players, but also by coaches (misconduct and harassment on their part). The began after my daughter did not play for their summer AAU club team which should have nothing to do with high school team.

We left the school back in December 2017, after 2 occasions of speaking with the head coach before the season about our feelings, and the Athletic Director as well during the season because certain behaviors still persisted. After one month of being away from the school (January 2018), we received a call from a relative about a "highlight video" on MP (high school sports info. website) of our daughter. Only problem - the video was "lowlights" and very embarrassing for our daughter (and of course, the coach put information out in the public suggesting my daughter actually caused the video to go up after the school was informed and an investigation was to take place - an absolute lie).

I immediately called the principal and the athletic director because this was one more example of the coaches bullying my daughter. I was blown off - basically told it was not malicious, in fact, an error and that the video had gone from my daughter's ZZZ account (ZZZ handles the video and posts to MP).

So I investigated some - my daughter had never been to her ZZZ account (we found out later that the coaches had access), so someone else had to make the video and put it online besides her.

By the end of the week, ZZZ's legal team called me and informed me, that in fact a coach from the High School had made the video and uploaded.

This issue was "investigated" by the ABCD County Profession Standards Office in April. They ruled that our compliant was unsubstantiated - end of story.

We have major issues because the "investigation" seemed to not be professional, fair, or genuine. The professional standards office - never contacted us or interviewed us although even an email in their public notice suggested the investigator should, they never contacted Hudl although we requested that they needed to because they could provide proof (which clearly expressed the opposite of what the coach said in the public notice put out by the professional standards office), they never interviewed our witnesses who would have supported the treatment my daughter had gotten (in fact, they asked for them to call their office after making a decision which is also in an email in the public notice - and then never even talked with them when they did call). The investigation was so one sided, that it seems, like it was decided beforehand to protect the coaches and not even a real investigation.

That's the gist of the situation.

In reality, all we ever want was an apology and admission to do was justify our daughter (Instead of the truth which ZZZ and MP, 3rd party experts related to the video would have substantiated - not a coach defending himself or my daughter "trying to get the coach" - a very one sided and biased decision was made).

Anyone have any suggestions for what to do because we would like to vindicate our daughter - yet it appears that the school, board, professional standards office may have some sort of immunity.

Thanks in advance.

 

[stealth2]

How has it damaged your daughter? Besides her (and you) being upset, etc.?

 

[Taijijj64]

Opportunity to thrive in that environment was taken away. (A wasted year of eligibility toward recruitment)
The video posted had the potential to diminish her recruitable and intended to embarrass
Rumors relative to the video have been spreading that are out right lies (Defaming her character)
Socially she was isolated and coaches did nothing although made aware of it as well as other harassment
Were compelled to leave the school to find relief from the environment (her psyche was severely bruised)
etc

 

[Zigner]

How much (in dollars) is it worth to be able to say "I told you so"?

 

[quincy]

You can consult with a defamation lawyer in your area for a personal review. Although the video itself might accurately show your daughter, the commentary might cross a legal line.

 

[Taijijj64]

I am not sure what member Zigner means. We weren't even looking for dollars - a simple admission and "I'm sorry" would have be nice. Maybe, the two coaches not coaching at the school. But then the thing became something that looks like a cover up and that's what disgusts us now, along with the social stigma that suggests our daughter was lying among some people even though we have proof from Hudl.

 

[Taijijj64]

You can consult with a defamation lawyer in your area for a personal review. Although the video itself might accurately show your daughter, the commentary might cross a legal line.

Explain more about the commentary. To explain cleary - the video was posted and Name (Tag, Titled) by the Coach as a Highlight for a specific game and posted (is that what you mean)

 

[stealth2]

What year is she in? What level is she hoping to play at?

 

[quincy]

Explain more about the commentary. To explain cleary - the video was posted and Name (Tag, Titled) by the Coach as a Highlight for a specific game and posted (is that what you mean)

In your original post (I don't know to where it disappeared), you said something about the coach using the video of your daughter to demonstrate what not to do. There was nothing said? There was only a video of the game play published?

 

[Zigner]

I am not sure what member Zigner means. We weren't even looking for dollars - a simple admission and "I'm sorry" would have be nice.

If they are not forthcoming with said admission and apology, and if you want to force the matter, then you are going to have to pursue it through legal channels. I'll ask again...how much is it worth to you?

 

[not2cleverRed]

You may never get an apology.

Be happy that your daughter is no longer a student there.

If you had to put your child in private school or pay out of district tuition due to "bullying" that the school would not control, that would be quantifiable monetary damages. The problem is, this is difficult to prove. I think you have some immature coaches that made poor choices - favoritism is never a good choice for a teacher, and teachers who belittle one student in order to appear cool to others end up in the end impressing no one.

What you need to do is help build up your daughter's resiliency in the face of this. She has to learn that life goes on, and things will get better - very few of the billions of people on the planet will have any interest at all in this video.

Yes, she loses time in eligibility. If she really is motivated, driven, and talented, she will use this to experience to become a better player (and better human). I would hope recruiters would be interested in her most recent shows of ability, not the past.

What quincy refers to is that it is one thing if there are clips where she happens to make a mistakes, and is not mentioned by name or focused on. It's another thing if she's repeatedly pointed out in these clips, "Susie Q messes up again." Susie Q being your daughter.

I could see such video being used in training. "Let's look at this. What could we do better here? Let's try the following drills to work on those skills." I do not think it prudent to post with negative and identifying commentary by your daughter's coach.

 

[Taijijj64]

In your original post (I don't know to where it disappeared), you said something about the coach using the video of your daughter to demonstrate what not to do. There was nothing said? There was only a video of the game play published?

Nothing mentioned about what not to do - her mistakes were published on a website where only highlights of athlete prospects are supposed to be published

 

[quincy]

Nothing mentioned about what not to do - her mistakes were published on a website where only highlights of athlete prospects are supposed to be published

The video, then, gives viewers a false impression of your daughter's skills by singling out only her mistakes?

Is the video still online available for viewing?

What state are you in?

 

[Taijijj64]

You may never get an apology.

Be happy that your daughter is no longer a student there.

If you had to put your child in private school or pay out of district tuition due to "bullying" that the school would not control, that would be quantifiable monetary damages. The problem is, this is difficult to prove. I think you have some immature coaches that made poor choices - favoritism is never a good choice for a teacher, and teachers who belittle one student in order to appear cool to others end up in the end impressing no one.

What you need to do is help build up your daughter's resiliency in the face of this. She has to learn that life goes on, and things will get better - very few of the billions of people on the planet will have any interest at all in this video.

Yes, she loses time in eligibility. If she really is motivated, driven, and talented, she will use this to experience to become a better player (and better human). I would hope recruiters would be interested in her most recent shows of ability, not the past.

What quincy refers to is that it is one thing if there are clips where she happens to make a mistakes, and is not mentioned by name or focused on. It's another thing if she's repeatedly pointed out in these clips, "Susie Q messes up again." Susie Q being your daughter.

I could see such video being used in training. "Let's look at this. What could we do better here? Let's try the following drills to work on those skills." I do not think it prudent to post with negative and identifying commentary by your daughter's coach.

Everything you said I agree with with one exception. Of course, pointing out errors so a player can improve is done when watching "Game Film". But when you specifically take out the errors of a child, who is already being isolated, and only make a video of that child - not to teach her in private. Instead, the video was placed on a public website AFTER she was no longer at the school.

 

[not2cleverRed]

The video, then, gives viewers a false impression of your daughter's skills by singling out only her mistakes?

Is the video still online available for viewing?

What state are you in?

OP is in Florida.

The original post needed editing, as including the school's name and the sport could potentially lead to OP's daughter being uniquely identified.

Everything you said I agree with with one exception. Of course, pointing out errors so a player can improve is done when watching "Game Film". But when you specifically take out the errors of a child, who is already being isolated, and only make a video of that child - not to teach her in private. Instead, the video was placed on a public website AFTER she was no longer at the school.

I believe that kind of was my point: that if this is a "blooper tape", repeatedly identifying your daughter and poking fun at her in a public forum, that you might have a case. Otherwise, if the focus isn't on her, it's not.