One of the very few female college football coaches in the nation has filed a Title IX sex-discrimination complaint against her university in federal court in Ohio, alleging that she was assaulted by one of her players and then was subject to retaliation after reporting it.d
Madison Lindamood, a graduate assistant coach at Ohio Dominican University, alleged that one of her players assaulted her at a university-sponsored event March 6. Her lawsuit, filed July 10, said the player “approached her aggressively, made physical contact with her body, and forcibly ripped her bag from her person, physically pulling her, and searched her belongings without her consent.”
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Her complaint said she documented bruising on the back of her neck with photographs and that the alleged assault was witnessed by at least one other graduate assistant.
Ohio Dominican is a Division II private Catholic school that is overshadowed in sports by the big Division I university across town in Columbus, Ohio State. The school didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
Lindamood worked in a sport that is dominated by men. According to NCAA data, there were only 35 female assistant coaches in all levels of NCAA football in 2025, compared to more than 7,500 male coaches.
“I wanted that job,” Lindamood said in a statement. “What I did not expect was to be told that what happened to me did not count unless it drew blood. No woman should have to choose between staying silent and losing the career she’s worked so hard to build.”
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What does this female football coach allege in her federal lawsuit?
Lindamood’s lawsuit said she reported the alleged assault to head coach Kelly Cummings and the school’s Title IX coordinator, who directed Cummings to investigate the matter instead of a neutral party, the complaint states. Cummings then told her his “personal definition of assault required blood or severe bruising,” according to the complaint. The complaint also said Cummings suggested that the player may have been as aggressive with her as he is with his sister and asked her what she could have done differently.
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Her complaint said she later suffered retaliation from the school including being cut off from team communications, being publicly berated by other coaching staff, being shut out of coaches meetings and being forced into repeated proximity with her alleged assailant.
After Lindamood’s mother filed a complaint related to the alleged retaliation in April, Cummings left her a voicemail ordering her not to return to work. She has not been permitted back since, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also alleges she worked unpaid overtime and was paid only about $1.29 per hour for all the work she did, far less than Ohio’s minimum wage of $11 per hour. Cummings didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
What does this lawsuit seek to accomplish?
The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, plus compensation for unpaid overtime and unpaid minimum wages.
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Lindamood’s attorney, Sean Sobel, said his client did not file a police report about the alleged assault for a reason.
“She has expressed that she was afraid that pushing it further would cost her her job, and she feared for her safety,” Sobel said. “Reporting it internally cost her the job anyway.”
Her complaint states that the university president’s office initially assured Lindamood that the university expected that those who raise such concerns would not experience retaliation. Then in April, the school’s Title IX coordinator issued a one-paragraph letter stating that Lindamood’s complaint did not meet the threshold for Title IX sexual harassment and would be transferred to the Student Code of Conduct process. The letter provided no rationale for the determination and identified no right to appeal, according the complaint.
The lawsuit also said that Cummings, the head coach, manufactured a pretextual narrative that Lindamood was habitually tardy, despite that she consistently arrived before 6:00 a.m. and had never missed a day of work.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Female college football coach files Title IX lawsuit against university
