Although BadJocks.com opined that it “could arguably be the dumbest sports lawsuit” of last year, it proved quite successful in a Westchester County, N.Y. court: “The Ossining school district must pay $375,000 to a former star high school basketball player for failing to properly supervise a school secretary who carried on a two-year affair with the student, a federal jury has decided.” The athlete, Rahssan Simmons, “said the fallout from the affair [with school secretary Felicita DeJesus] caused emotional and psychological trauma from which he still suffers, and derailed a possible pro basketball career. The jury awarded Simmons $750,000 but said the district and DeJesus were each responsible for half the amount, even though DeJesus was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.” School officials said they did not know about the affair, but Simmons attorney Keith Harriton countered it had been an “open secret” and that an anonymous letter had been sent to the school warning them of it. (New York Journal News (Westchester County, N.Y.) coverage by Timothy O’Connor: “Jury awards ex-student $750G”, Feb. 10; “Tearful testimony unfolds at sex trial”, Feb. 4; “Ossining retrial begins”, Jan. 27; “District sued over student’s affair with secretary”, Dec. 9).
