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Virginia Tech soccer player slams team's 'suffocating' culture after settling $100,000 'BLM' lawsuit
Former Virginia Tech soccer player Kiersten Hening is ripping the team's 'toxic' and 'suffocating' atmosphere amid a dispute with 76 current and former players over a lawsuit she filed against team coach Charles 'Chugger' Adair.
The one-time walk-on accused her now-former coach of cutting her playing time because she refused to kneel with teammates in a Black Lives Matter demonstration in 2020, but settled the lawsuit with the school for $100,000 earlier this month.
'It's unfortunate the political climate that was made in college sports,' Hening told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 'Personally I don't believe in politics having any place in sports, so when that pressure came in to conform to the mob mentality… It was hard because that environment was very suffocating. It was toxic. It was very divisive, what they did.
'I hope in what I'm doing, I can inspire those people to stand up for what they believe in.'
Former Virginia Tech soccer player Kiersten Hening is ripping the team's 'toxic' and 'suffocating' atmosphere amid a dispute with 76 current and former players over a lawsuit she filed against team coach Charles 'Chugger' Adair
Hening reiterated the claims of her lawsuit, saying Adair 'verbally attacked her' and cut her playing time over her refusal to kneel with teammates in a Black Lives Matter demonstration two years earlier. The school did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of its settlement.
Earlier this week, 76 current and former Hokies players issued a statement of support for Adair. Previously, Virginia Tech insisted that Hening's decreased playing time was the result of her performance, but the Virginia Tech grad disagreed with that assessment while speaking with Ingraham.
'I don't think that's accurate, no,' Hening said. 'I think that the numbers speak for themselves in that sense. Judge [Thomas] Cullen, who ruled on the summary judgement, summarized it perfectly: I think I averaged 74 minutes my freshman year, and 88 minutes my sophomore year, so there was definitely a significant decrease in playing time with no real explanation as to why.'
Earlier this week, 76 current and former Hokies players issued a statement of support for Adair. Previously, Virginia Tech insisted that Hening's decreased playing time was the result of her performance, but the Virginia Tech grad disagreed with that assessment while speaking with Ingraham. 'I don't think that's accurate, no,' Hening told Fox News' Laura Ingraham (left)
She claims that things became so bad for her on the soccer team that 'she felt compelled' to quit the sport altogether.
Hening 'supports social justice and believes that black lives matter,' according to her lawsuit, but disagrees with the BLM movement because of its 'tactics and core tenets of its mission statement, including defunding the police.'
Because of this, Hening says she refused to kneel with teammates prior to a game in 2020.
'Personally, I didn't feel like I need to kneel in order to support something,' she told Fox News. 'Personally, I felt like I could stand and be in support of something. Personally, I think that the kneeling was very synonymous with the Colin Kaepernick movement and the BLM movement and I didn't feel like I needed to.'
She also described an argument with Adair in which he allegedly berated her in front of her teammates over the issue.
'It didn't feel good,' she told Ingraham. 'I'm someone, I kind of do my job and I was there for the love of the game and the love of the school. To me, putting on that jersey meant so much to me and to be called out like that, it was pretty harsh.'
Hening was once a powerful midfielder and defender for the Hokies before her time playing on the field was drastically cut in September 2020
In her lawsuit, Hening accused Adair of putting his finger 'directly in her face' and accusing her of 'b****ing and moaning.'
As part of her initial lawsuit, Hening asked to be reinstated to the soccer team and given compensatory and punitive damages. She has since graduated from Virginia Tech, according to the Times.
On Monday, Adair got support from the 76 current and former players, who wrote: 'We have spent countless hours training, traveling and playing under his leadership and are devastated and appalled to see his character and integrity severely impugned.'
Tech tried to dismiss the case in early December, but was denied by US District Judge Thomas Cullen. A three-day trial was scheduled to start this month, but was canceled last week.
Coach Chugger Adair said he is relieved that the case against him has finally been closed
There remains factual disputes between the two parties.
Tech has argued in court documents that it has evidence showing that other players who refused to kneel did not suffer any consequences, such as reduced playing time.
'Coach Adair's explanations have been consistent — Hening's play contributed to his decision for a line-up change,' read a filing by Tech attorneys.
Hening has insisted that her conservative political views and negative opinion of Black Lives Matter is the only way to explain how she went from starting over her first two seasons to becoming a bench player following her refusal to kneel.
She ultimately quit the team, saying Adair forced her out with a 'campaign of abuse and retaliation.'
'Because she refused to kneel, he benched her, subjected her to repeated verbal abuse, and forced her off the team,' read the lawsuit obtained by DailyMail.com.
'As a result of her coach's actions, Hening can no longer play the game she loves, despite having two more years of NCAA eligibility,' the lawsuit reads. 'This Court should vindicate Hening's constitutional rights and award her legal and equitable relief.'