A group of eight Ohio high school football coaches have been placed on paid leave after they allegedly forced a player to eat pork products despite it being against his religious beliefs.
A junior at McKinley Senior High School in Canton was reportedly subjected to the punishment after he missed practice last month due to an injury, ABC affiliate News 5 Cleveland reported.
Edward Gilbert, an attorney representing the family, said that the coaching staff forced the player to sit in the middle of the gym and consume an entire pepperoni pizza in front of the whole team.
Otherwise, his teammates would have allegedly been forced to run extra drills because of him.
“The coach had a pork pizza as a penalty for this child not showing up for practice. What’s interesting is everyone on the team knows this child will not eat pork,” Gilbert said, adding that the coaches threatened to put the player’s status on the team in jeopardy.
“To say the coach used poor judgment would be an understatement,” he said. “This was humiliating for this child.”
The player is a member of the Hebrew Israeli religious faith, which forbids the consumption of pork or pork residue.
The player’s father told the outlet that the family has abstained from consuming pork since 2013 in adherence with their faith.
“I felt very upset, I felt disrespected,” he told ABC News. “Makes you question if they are doing their job or are they capable of doing their job. Obviously, I feel the culture is broken.”
The Canton City School District said that all eight members of the coaching staff, including the head coach, have been suspended pending an investigation.
“The football program, which has a long and impressive history, is an important part of our school culture and our community,” the school district said in a statement. “That program has a proud tradition of instilling the attributes of excellence, leadership, community, accountability, hard work, and respect into the players and those associated with the overall program. As such, those entrusted with the protection of our student-athletes must be held to a higher standard within our community.”
The district said it holds all staff to the “highest professional and ethical standards. Anything short of these standards is unacceptable.”
Gilbert said that ongoing negotiations with the superintendent were not promising and the family would likely take legal action.
“This is a First Amendment issue and yes, there will most likely be a lawsuit,” he said. “The coach was inappropriate in the way he handled this. It was a stupid act.”