Dad sues school for $40M after son cut from track team

Earvin Mears, Jr. is suing his son’s track coach, principal, athletic director, school district, district superintendent, and school board for $40 million. He says his son was wrongly cut from his New Jersey high school’s track team.

The coach cut Earvin’s son, Mawusimensah, from the team because had more than three unexcused absences, which is the maximum allowed for participants.

But Earvin says Mawusimensah was excused for those absences because he was either injured or attending a funeral. The real reason his son was cut, Earvin says, is because he disagreed with the coach on what his son should run.

“He wanted him to run hurdles; my son’s never run hurdles in his life. My son is a 200 meter runner, a 400 meter runner, and an 800 meter runner. We had a disagreement,” said Earvin on the Dori Monson Show. “And because of the disagreement with him, he took it out on my son.”

Dori has coached high school women’s varsity basketball for years. He says there’s a clear line parents cross when they try to tell him where to play their daughters, or how much playing time they should get. It’s up to the coach to put the best players where they belong.

But Earvin said the coach is doing the opposite: his son was in the top seven when he was just a freshman and the coach was keeping him from doing his best. He says his son was even passed over for a varsity letter.

“He told me: Mr. Mears, I’m giving this varsity letter to a senior because he’s going out and I want him to have this recognition and I have the broad discretion to determine who gets the letters,” said Earvin.

Mawusimensah started running track when he attended a private Catholic middle school. He caught the eye of the track coach at Sterling Regional High School in Camden County when his team was practicing at the school’s facilities.

Earvin says the school’s coach approached him and convinced him to have Mawusimensah attend his high school and run track there.

Now Earvin is suing because he doesn’t want Mawusimensah’s chances for a possible college athletic scholarship just because the coach disagrees with his dad. He filed the lawsuit himself, without the help of an attorney.

Furthermore, Earvin says his son’s right to due process – and participating in extracurricular activities – are being violated.

“In New Jersey there’s been a case before the Supreme Court where they were determining whether or not extracurricular activity was a privilege or a right,” Earvin. “They held that it was a right.”