Ursuline High School and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown denied allegations that Ursuline football players bullied, harassed and assaulted a gay student at the school in response to a lawsuit last week.
The lawsuit is one of four that were filed in 2025 against the Catholic private school and the diocese in Youngstown, most of them in federal court, alleging the school ignored claims about, or failed to prevent, students being hurt or harassed. Three of the suits relate to misconduct from football players.
This particular suit, filed by the student's grandmother in November and amended on Dec. 11, alleges football players harassed the openly gay student on a daily basis. The suit alleges players called him homophobic slurs, threw food at him in the cafeteria and otherwise bullied him in full view of staff.
"The Ursuline Defendants’ failures weren’t just negligent. They were reckless and intentional, because they sought to protect their football players—at any cost," the suit reads.
The diocese and Ursuline denied allegations they failed to investigate the student and his grandmother's claims, in a Jan. 16 response to the suit.
"The Diocese Defendants state Ursuline investigated vague, limited, and unspecific concerns reported by Grandmother Doe in the spring of 2024 regarding alleged off-campus issues," the response reads. "Answering further, Grandson Doe never reported any alleged issues regarding name-calling or any other issues. Further answering, as part of that investigation, Grandson Doe denied any such off-campus or on-campus issues occurred."
The suit alleges a teacher also joined in the bullying, saying "He has more makeup on than me," a claim the school denies. The grandmother reported the harassment and bullying to multiple school officials, including Assistant School Principal Margaret Damore, who is named in the lawsuit, the suit said.
The first of the four lawsuits, filed by Cleveland lawyer Subodh Chandra in September 2025, similarly alleged Ursuline High School ignored complaints against the football team. That suit claimed a football player was sexually assaulted and harassed by players during a football camp in 2025. The second suit, filed soon after, centered around a football player allegedly harassing and assaulting a girl at the school. Those suits and the one filed in November allege students' federal Title IX rights were violated.
A fourth suit was filed in state instead of federal court and alleged the school failed to prevent a girl from being assaulted by a friend despite students warning officials. The suits seek compensation for the defendants and declarations that the students' rights were violated.
Ursuline High School cancelled the remainder of its football season last year after the first two lawsuits were filed.
