16 Ex-Michigan Players Sue Over Hazing 'Torture'

Sixteen former University of Michigan hockey players are suing the university in federal court, alleging that ritualized sexual hazing the complaint describes as "torture" ran through the program for more than three decades while coaches looked away.

The suit was filed Wednesday, Sept. 9, in Detroit. All 16 plaintiffs are anonymous John Does who attended Michigan between 1984 and 2001, according to the complaint.

The university disputes the claims and says it is not liable.

What the Complaint Alleges

The complaint says freshmen were stripped naked at team parties and had their genitals and other parts of their bodies shaved by upperclassmen as an initiation ritual. Players allege razor handles were forcibly inserted into their anuses, that pubic hair was burned off with a blowtorch, and that a helmet or five-gallon bucket was tied to their genitals and filled with hockey pucks.

"Men as young as seventeen years old – new to adult life and in many cases dependent on hockey to access education at Michigan – were subjected to sexualized abuse that would be immediately recognized as torture under any other circumstance," the lawsuit states. "The abuse was ritualized, meticulously planned, and sadistic."

The complaint alleges coaches concealed what was happening and chided the few players who complained to "be a Michigan man," told them they were not being "good teammates," and cut their ice time. It alleges Hall of Fame coach Red Berenson condoned the rituals and told players to shave only "below the neck" so no one would notice. Then-assistant coach Mel Pearson, who later became head coach, is alleged to have been among team employees who knew and told freshmen to "just get through it." Equipment managers and trainers were present in some years, the players say.

One player says he reported the abuse to the university's athletic director; the lawsuit does not name that athletic director. He says Berenson responded by "drastically" cutting his playing time.