DANVILLE, Ind. — A toxic culture that downplayed bullying allegations and permitted coaches to participate in continual harassment of cheerleaders, while retaliating against athletes who came forward about it, are just some of the accusations now leveled against cheerleading staff and the Danville Community School Corporation in a new lawsuit.
An unnamed sophomore alleged in a civil suit filed on July 26 they were a victim of persistent bullying while they were a member of the Danville Community High School junior varsity cheerleading team around April 2022, and that school officials ignored reports even as the poor treatment intensified throughout the season.
The student reportedly confided to a relative that she had been bullied by other cheerleaders.
Both varsity and junior varsity cheerleading teams at Danville were coached by Breanna Galliher and Brooklyn Klug, according the lawsuit.
Around April 26, 2022, the lawsuit states the unnamed cheerleader's relative notified Galliher in a written Facebook message that members of the DCHS cheerleading teams were bullying their teammates.
That person allegedly shared screenshots with Galliher that showed team members harassing the victim over social media.
The lawsuit accused Galliher of failing to investigate those online bullying allegations when they were first reported, as mandated by the DCHS handbook on pages 36 and 37.
"Failure by a school employee who has a responsibility to report bullying or investigate bullying or any other duty under this rule to carry out such responsibility or duty will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal from employment with the school corporation," the handbook reads.
Then, in July 2022, the lawsuit claims the student directly opened up to Galliher that she was experiencing bullying from other cheerleaders.
The cheerleader allegedly confided in her coach that constant bullying had occurred for more than one year and said, according to the lawsuit, she didn't know if she wanted to be alive because of it.
DCHS reportedly launched an investigation into the bullying allegations on July 2022, and the lawsuit alleges one of the cheerleaders who was accused of bullying voluntarily quit the cheerleading team "without any consequences for bullying."
Neither the victim's parents nor the cheerleader were contacted by DCHS for an interview, the lawsuit alleges, and they further argued that is in "direct violation of the DCHS Bullying Policy."
The anonymous cheerleader also reported other cheerleaders experienced pervasive bullying throughout the 2022-2023 season, both by coaches and fellow teammates.
An alleged culture of bullying and harassment that festered within the DCHS cheerleading squad was even encouraged, the lawsuit claims, throughout the 2022-2023 competition season by the coaches.
In January 2023, Galliher and Klug allegedly berated the cheerleaders, including the unnamed cheerleader, after a game performance. Some athletes were "left in tears" after that incident, according to the lawsuit.
Afterwards, two more cheerleaders reportedly complained to school officials regarding the coaches’ behavior in private. An attempt to suss out which team members had filed those complaints were then addressed at the next all-team practice, according to the lawsuit.
Galliher and Klug reportedly pulled the team into a circle and instructed them to raise their hands, in front of their peers, then answer the question “if you thought that what we said last week was just good coaching.”
The lawsuit alleges the only cheerleader who did not raise her hand was suspended from the team within 24 hours in an apparent effort "to discourage other team members from doing the same."
Galliher and Klug were also accused of encouraging cheerleaders to engage in risky, or medically unadvised, activities to ensure the team’s competition routine was not compromised.
The coaches allegedly discouraged team members from seeking care from their own doctors, and encouraged them to seek care from the DCHS’s athletic trainer, who would permit injured team members to tumble or attempt stunts in violation of their own physician’s instruction, according to the lawsuit.
Galliher and Klug were accused of pitting athletes on JV and varsity squads against each other, which the lawsuit alleges further exacerbated bullying on the team.
During the team’s bus ride home from a competition in early October 2022, Galliger and Klug derided the JV cheerleaders to a varsity cheerleader, including the unnamed sophomore, in a way the cheerleader was able to easily overhear.
"Overhearing such negative statements was detrimental to (redacted)'s mental health and confidence," the lawsuit reads.
Then, on Jan. 10, 2023, the unnamed sophomore reportedly sent a message to Galliher in an attempt to speak up about the "detrimental dynamic between varsity and JV cheer teams that she had observed on the bus and at other times."
The unnamed cheerleader said she felt freshmen teammates look to her as a leader, and therefore felt compelled to speak out about the negative environment fostered by the coaches.
Shortly after Galliher responded to the cheerleader's message, the Danville Cheer Instagram account, reportedly controlled by the coaches, posted a message, which appeared to be a veiled threat to not speak honestly about her legitimate concerns, according to the lawsuit.
On Jan. 23, 2023, the unnamed cheerleader's parent reportedly sent an anonymous email to Superintendent Dr. Tracey Shafer and the DCSC’s school board, outlining many of the above mentioned concerns.
In response, Shafer allegedly informed the parent that an investigation into the issues had already begun. But the lawsuit claims that instead of investigating the bullying, the school’s investigation "seemed focused on who made the anonymous complaint."
The parents' anonymous email allegedly mentioned that student's mental health was suffering. In an interview which reportedly "occurred without parental knowledge or permission," then-Danville Community High School Principal P.J. Hamann allegedly questioned the cheerleader about her mental health and asked what her therapy sessions were about.
"This seemed to be a targeted effort to determine which student complained about bullying," the lawsuit reads.
Her parent reportedly learned of this meeting only after her daughter returned home distressed and worried about retaliation for speaking with Hamann, according to the lawsuit.
Within 24 hours of that conversation, the lawsuit claims JV-only cheer practices were removed from the calendar by Galliher.
The cheerleader's parent then reportedly spoke directly with Hamann, requesting an investigation. Six weeks later, the lawsuit claimed Schaffer told them the investigation had been "closed."
"Superintendent Schaffer admitted the school did not follow its own bullying policy or Indiana anti-bullying law, admitted he did not have evidence to support the non-action of the coaching staff or administration, and stated that the school does not take anonymous emails seriously," the lawsuit reads.
The unnamed cheerleader then left the team, at the recommendation of her physician, one game shy of completing the season, according to the lawsuit.
Her participation in the season as JV cheerleader was unacknowledged by coaches at an end-of-year banquet for the cheerleading team on March 14, 2023, the lawsuit alleges.
"Instead, the coaches made comments unmistakably directed at (redacted), implying that she was a 'quitter' and 'gave up.' (Redacted) was forced to listen while the coaches bullied her in front of an entire crowd. After the banquet, both coaches continued their bullying behavior over social media by following only specific cheerleaders on social media, liking and/or commenting on their photos, and sharing only specific cheerleaders’ content," the lawsuit reads.
Not only were the coaches aware of bullying within cheerleaders on the team and ignored multiple complaints but they were, the lawsuit alleges, active participants.
"The coaches have fostered a bullying dynamic between the JV and varsity teams, and created an atmosphere that puts the young team members’ own physical and mental health and safety at risk. This detrimental environment caused students, including (redacted), to quit the team to protect their health," the lawsuit reads.
Eventually, the lawsuit states the cheerleader's family had to leave the Danville Community School Corporation because of its "failure to protect" their daughter from known bullying and harassment.
The family is requesting compensatory damages, damages for emotional distress and punitive damages from the Danville Community School Corporation, Galliher and Klug.
13News reached out to the Danville Community School Corporation for comment, and were told the corporation does not comment on pending litigation.