A University of Arizona student and former track athlete has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the university, accusing the track program of bullying and alleging assault by head coach Fred Harvey.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, also lists the Arizona Board of Regents and students and coaches from the track and field team as defendants. The former athlete makes multiple claims against the school, including defamation, Title IX violations and assault.

He also is requesting punitive damages of $3 million plus attorney fees.

Former runner Michael Grabowski claims he faced consistent and unresolved bullying and harassment while on the track and field team.

The suit alleges that Grabowski was bullied at a training camp for the team before the start of his freshman year in 2017-2018, and that he was the only player who did not have a bed at the camp. 

After a knee injury at the camp, Grabowski’s father called associate head coach James Li to discuss the injury and concerns about bullying. Li responded that Grabowski didn’t “know the culture yet” but promised to look into the claims, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Tucson attorney William G. Walker. 

The suit alleges that Grabowski was bullied “almost daily” throughout the season and cites two students as the main perpetrators. Grabowski met with Li and told him about the students, but Li replied, “you can’t single out the two top runners on the team,” according to the lawsuit. 

After unsuccessful attempts to resolve the bullying issue, and then being forced to run a race while sick, Grabowski met head coach Harvey, who dismissed him from the team. Li and other assistant coaches were present at the meeting as well, the lawsuit states. 

“There’s a certain atmosphere we are trying to establish on this team, and you do not fit in it,” Harvey told Grabowski, according the lawsuit.

When Grabowski asked for an explanation and brought up his experience of bullying, Harvey assaulted him, the suit claims. Grabowski alleges that Harvey pinned him to a chair and called him a racist and liar, while using expletives.

After the incident, Grabowski fainted and was taken to the hospital, according to the suit. Harvey has led the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams since 2002.

After Grabowski’s dismissal, the suit alleges that Harvey and Li both accused Grabowski of joking about rape and making racist comments to other teammates. The suit says those accusations are false.

University of Arizona responds to lawsuit

A UA official said in a statement that the university first heard of the allegations in fall 2018 and conducted a personnel review in the athletic department at that time. 

“There is a distinct disparity between the allegations in the lawsuit and the concerns raised last fall,” the statement said. 

The university said that the review focused on the meeting between the athlete and the coaches and Grabowski’s trip to the hospital.

“The personnel review concluded that the coaches and staff acted appropriately,” UA said. “The subsequent hospital referral process was reviewed by a senior medical professional in the athletic department and was determined to have been ‘best practice.'”

The university said it intends to “strongly contest any lawsuits based on unsubstantiated allegations.”

Current and former track athletes defended Harvey in a letter to the Daily Wildcat, the UA student publication, after Grabowski filed a notice of claim in March. They said the coach had a “positive impact” on their lives and defended his “tempered, rational and moral actions.”

Walker, Grabowski’s attorney, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. 

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