Simmons University grad says ex-NFL coach stole intimate photos in class action lawsuit
A former Simmons University cross-country runner has filed a class action lawsuit, claiming her alma mater failed to protect her and hundreds of thousands of other female student-athletes' personal data.
The graduate — identified only as a Plymouth County woman who attended Simmons University, located in Boston, from 2012 to 2016 — said she is a victim of Matthew Weiss, a former coach at the University of Michigan and Baltimore Ravens.
Weiss, 42, was indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 20 on two dozen counts, accusing him of stealing the medical and personal data of more than 150,000 student-athletes from 2015 until January 2023. The charges came more than two years after Weiss was dismissed as the University of Michigan assistant football coach for 'inappropriately' accessing computer accounts.
Weiss specifically went after about 3,300 female student-athletes from 100 different universities based on where they went to school and their 'athletic history, physical characteristics and sexual preferences,' the class action suit read.
He accessed the young women's social media, email and cloud storage, and 'downloaded personal, intimate digital photographs and videos that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners,' the suit read.
The Plymouth County woman and former Simmons cross-country runner, who filed the lawsuit on Monday in Boston federal court, was notified by the DOJ that she was a victim in Weiss's criminal case on March 31.
In the Massachusetts suit, Weiss is named with Simmons University and its trustees as defendants, along with Pennsylvania-based data company Keffer Development Services LLC.
Keffer owns a medical record system known as 'The Athletic Trainer System,' the suit reads, which records student-athlete health data, including treatment histories, injuries and diagnoses, photos and insurance information. It also tracks personal details such as height, weight, mental health and demographics.
The plaintiff, 'Jane Doe,' accuses both Simmons and Keffer of not upholding their duties 'to protect the private data of student athletes stored within their systems and to have controls in place to prevent gross invasions of privacy as occurred in this case,' the suit read.
A spokesperson for Simmons University said the school cannot comment on the pending litigation, but that it takes protecting its students' information seriously.
' ... We want to emphasize that we take matters of student privacy and online security extremely seriously and remain committed to protecting our community,' a statement from the spokesperson read.
Doe's suit said she and her class action members endured the 'invasion and loss of privacy, loss of dignity, humiliation, embarrassment, and severe emotional distress' from the access of their information.
The plaintiffs seek a jury trial, along with upwards of $5 million monetary awards in compensatory, nominal and punitive damages, and reimbursement for attorney costs.
This class action suit is the latest legal action by a former or current U.S. college student with ties to their school's athletic department taken against Weiss and their schools since his indictment. Four other University of Michigan students filed class action suits at the end of March.
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