Syracuse Abuse Scandal: Jim Boeheim Claimed Defamation and an Interesting Twist
As admitted by legendary basketball coach, Jim Boeheim, he should not have called Bobby Davis and Michael Lang “liars” and “out for the money and nothing else.” Boeheim has now recanted these statements and apologized.
Both Davis and Lang claim that they were sexually abused, as children years ago, by now fired Syracuse Assistant Coach Bernie Fine. These allegations cannot be locally prosecuted as the statute of limitations has run but they are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation.
In response to Boeheim’s comments, Davis and Lang, through celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, commenced a lawsuit against Syracuse University and Jim Boeheim for damages on a claim of defamation. Now, normally calling someone a liar can be construed as an attack on a person’s reputation. However, in the case, the plaintiffs’ are claiming that the words used by Boeheim are much worse because of the speaker is in the Syracuse community.
Davis and Lang argue that they were damaged by being verbally attacked by Boeheim who is more than prominent and powerful figure in Syracuse. They noted that Boeheim has “star status” in Syracuse and because he is “elite.”
In sum, Davis and Lang are alleging that not only the words uttered by Boeheim were damaging to their reputations but this offense has been compounded by the star-like status of a very powerful speaker.
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.