An 18-year-old former St. Joseph's University baseball player has filed a civil lawsuit in Suffolk County Supreme Court, claiming an overnight team trip in March turned into a brutal hazing ordeal. The suit targets St. Joseph's University's Long Island campus in Patchogue, head coach Tom Caputo, assistant coach Elliot Robles and roughly 30 unidentified teammates.
What the lawsuit says
According to the complaint, several players allegedly forced the plaintiff to strip naked in a hotel room, restrained him and physically assaulted him as part of a hazing ritual. The filing also claims that the practice of physically restraining teammates was an open secret within the baseball program and that a later internal review by the university backed up the player's account, according to University Herald.
Who's named and what they're seeking
The lawsuit accuses the university, Caputo, Robles and about 30 unnamed team members of failing to properly protect or discipline those involved, as reported by Patch. The former player is seeking compensatory damages for medical and psychological treatment, along with alleged lost educational and athletic opportunities. He is also asking for punitive damages meant to send a message and discourage similar conduct in the future.
Coach comments and witness accounts
Court filings cited in the complaint say Caputo privately told the player that "the witness accounts matched his version of events," and attorney James Kelly wrote that statements gathered by the university from other players lined up with the plaintiff's description, according to University Herald. The complaint also points to an earlier incident, which Caputo allegedly described to the player's parents, involving players trying to kick down a hotel room door, and frames it as part of a troubling pattern inside the program.
Policy and legal stakes
St. Joseph's has acknowledged it is aware of the lawsuit but says it will not comment while the case is pending, per Patch. The university's anti-hazing policy explicitly bans hazing in all student organizations and sets out steps for reporting and discipline. The complaint argues those safeguards were not effectively enforced in this case, and contends that failure exposes the institution and its staff to civil liability and, in some circumstances, possible criminal exposure, according to the school's published policy at Saint Joseph's University.
