Photo: Getty Images
A high school girls' basketball player is suing her former head coach over a viral hair-pulling incident, the Daily Gazette reports.
Hailey Monroe, a senior at Northville High School in upstate New York at the time of the incident, accused Jim Zullo of having “a reputation and history of inappropriate, aggressive and dangerous conduct” toward his players, which the school had been notified of, according to the lawsuit.
“(The district) had been made aware of and knew of defendant James Zullo’s propensity to be inappropriately aggressive towards players on the Northville girls’ basketball team, including (Monroe), and had a long history of both physical and psychological abuse of students both in and out of the Northville Central School District,” the lawsuit states.
Monroe is seeking compensation, claiming she "has been substantially damaged and suffered a monetary loss" in relation to the incident, which took place during the NYSPHSAA Class D championship game in March. Zullo pulled Monroe's ponytail and yelled at her after the team's 43-37 loss to La Fargeville.
Monroe, who is Northville's all-time leading scorer, appeared to be crying during the incident, which was included on the game's live broadcast. Zullo continued to yell and point at Monroe after pulling her hair as a teammate separated them and appeared to yell back at the coach.
“I deeply regret my behavior following the loss to La Fargeville Friday night in the Class D state championship game,” Zullo told WNYT. “I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her family, our team, the good folks at Northville Central Schools and our community. As a coach, under no circumstance is it acceptable to put my hands on a player, and I am truly sorry.”
“I wish I could have those moments back. I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached girls’ basketball at Northville the past two years, especially last season, which was a difficult time for our family," he added.
Zullo was fired by the school shortly after the incident took place.
“The Northville Central School District is aware of, and deeply disturbed by, the conduct of the Coach of the Girls’ Varsity basketball team during the Class D New York State championship game. We hold our coaches to the highest standards of professionalism, sportsmanship, and respect for our student-athletes, and this behavior is completely unacceptable,” the school said in a statement obtained by CBS6. “The District is committed to ensuring that this type of behavior has no place within our programs, and we will continue to uphold the values of respect and integrity that our athletes, families and community expect and deserve. This individual will no longer be coaching for the Northville Central School District.”con