VAN BUREN, Ark. (Legal Newsline) – An Arkansas high school student says she was made to bend over in a sexually suggestive manner to scrub an entire gym floor with a towel.
Liberty Boblett, individually and as next friend of Lydia Boblett, a minor, filed a complaint Oct. 30 in Crawford County Circuit Court against Mulberry Pleasant View Bo-County School District, girls basketball coach Logan Hayes and others, alleging negligence and other claims.
According to the plaintiffs' complaint, Lydia Boblett was forced to participate in "corporal/physical punishment" by Coach Hayes on Oct. 31, 2022, for missing a day of school and a basketball game.
They claim Boblett was forced to do "towel drills," in which she had to hold a towel against the floor while "bending forward in a sexually explicit and demeaning posture" as she pushed the towel up and down the basketball court. They further claim the punishment was done in full view of Boblett's peers and male coaches.
The plaintiffs allege that Boblett also suffered injuries to her knees and hands and was removed from the basketball team with her name being disclosed to other students in violation of school district polices.
The plaintiffs seek monetary relief, interest, trial by jury and all other just relief. They are represented by Jacqueline Mock of Mock Legal Solutions PLC in Fort Smith.
Crawford County Circuit Court case number 17CV-23-602