Andrick v. Hipsher

[JP Morgan]

Saw this story and guess who was the first person to come to mind?????

$1.5M coach-suit verdict

Thursday, March 25, 2004

NEW JERSEY TIMES

By LINDA STEIN

Staff Writer

Former high school basketball coach Daniel Hussong's in-your-face style of berating his players through the 1990s cost the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District a $1.5 million jury verdict yesterday.

And the jury could add punitive damages to that amount in further deliberations today.

With tears in her eyes, Jennifer Besler listened as a Mercer County Superior Court jury of five women and four men came unanimously to her side. They said her ex-coach's request that she lose 10 pounds in the weeks prior to the 1995 basketball season prompted an eating disorder that has had lasting effects since her playing days.

The jury also awarded Philip Besler, Jennifer's father, $100,000 because then school board President Lester Bynum gaveled him into silence as he tried to speak at a January 1997 school board meeting.

Hussong, who was smiling broadly outside the courtroom before the verdict was handed down, appeared grim and red-faced as the jury foreman answered question upon question. The jury consistently ruled against Hussong, the West Windsor-Plainsboro school board and two former administrators. It still has two questions to decide.

On advice of their attorneys, Hussong and the Beslers declined comment after the verdict was announced. However, the school district was quick to announce that the verdict could be appealed.

"The West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education does not agree with or accept the jury's verdict," WW-P spokeswoman Gerri Hutner said. "We maintain our position that the claims (of Jennifer Besler) are without merit."

Hutner said the district stands behind the Hussongs and those responsible for standard-bearing in the high school's basketball program at the time Besler attended school from 1992 through 1996.

The jury first awarded $3 million to Jennifer Besler but reduced it by 51 percent after finding that she has not done enough to mitigate her damages. Besler, now 25, has resisted treatment for the eating disorder and continues to take diet pills and exercise excessively, according to testimony.

A psychologist, who told the jury that Hussong was the trigger that had caused Besler to develop the eating disorder, said that many who suffer from eating disorders refuse treatment.

The jury will return today to decide questions it failed to answer due to wording the lawyers used in the jury questionnaire. Those questions concern the possible liability of former Superintendent Ray Bandlow and of the school board. The jury may also decide to impose punitive damages, after Superior Court Judge Paulette Sapp-Peterson rules whether they are permissible.

The trial, which lasted nearly four months, has caused ripples in the coaching community. Some area coaches said recently they are shifting from a more hard-nosed style, which the jury perceived in Hussong, to kinder, gentler coaching techniques.

Coaches are also attending clinics to improve their interpersonal skills and keeping parents in the loop about their children's progress.

During the trial, Richard Lapchick, a professor at the University of Central Florida, testified on the changing standards in coaching. Lapchick, who said he was paid $30,000 for his testimony, added that Hussong's treatment of his team, which was replete with profanity and name-calling, was beyond the bounds of accepted coaching standards.

The jury exonerated Lori Hussong, who served as her husband's assistant coach. She was accused of retaliating against the Beslers by spreading a rumor about underage drinking among Jennifer Besler and her friends. Jennifer was approached at the school by Plainsboro juvenile officer John Lamela, who questioned her about underage drinking at her parents' Shore house at Loveladies. Later, on senior cut day, Lamela went to the Shore house and found the students were not drinking at the time.

In previous rulings, Sapp-Peterson decided that Besler's mother, Carol Besler, was not entitled to damages. The judge also removed former assistant principal Robert Banks as a defendant.

However, the jury found that the school, former Superintendent Bandlow and Principal Michael Carr were negligent in how they supervised Hussong.

Hutner said the school district has insurance to pay the damages awarded to Besler.

"There are insurance companies covering the lawsuits. There is insurance coverage for the school board and employees of the district," she said.

According to witnesses, some parents had complained about how Hussong, who yelled, swore and threw clipboards, had treated their children since 1991. But other parents praised Hussong, who racked up a record of 247 victories and 120 losses during his 15 years as a WW-P girls coach.

Both Carr and Bandlow testified about complaints they received from parents. The administrators detailed actions they had taken to rein in Hussong, including having the coach sign a zero-tolerance memorandum of understanding in the spring of 1996. The memo mandated that an administrator supervise him at all games in order for him to continue as a coach.

Stephen Smith, current school board president, was surprised by the ruling, but reiterated the need for an appeal to yesterday's verdict.

"The board continues to believe there is no basis for findings of liability against itself and I assume we'll be discussing the possibility of appeals," Smith said.

Board member Stan Katz, who along with Smith came on the board just months after the lawsuit was filed in 1998, said only that "this is only the middle of the process" and would not comment further until after an appeal.

Staff writer Brian X. McCrone contributed to this report.

[Captain Kangaroo]

If berating players causes eating disorders, Bruce Weinkein must weigh about 26 lbs. now-a-days? :blink: