Fired Soccer Coach Sues Loyola Academy For Over $250,000

CHICAGO — Former Loyola Academy girls soccer coach Craig Snower is accusing the Wilmette Catholic high school of ruining his reputation and ending his career as a soccer coach. In a complaint filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, Snower claims that school administrators maliciously got him fired from a $90,000-a-year position with the Glenview-based FC United soccer club and defamed him by reporting accusations against him to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

According to his lawsuit, Snower has suffered "humiliation and emotional and physical distress" because of the way Loyola administrators fired him. It claimed the school's "wrongful, reckless and malicious conduct" caused him more than $250,000 in damages. The school "submitted false and defamatory statements to DCFS," according to the suit, "without reasonable cause to do so, in reckless disregard for the truth of the statement and without providing Snower an opportunity to defend himself."

Loyola's principal and president received word on May 7, 2018, from a parent that their daughter had quit playing soccer due to inappropriate sexual comments made by Snower, according to police reports. Former Principal Kathryn Baal spoke to about five soccer players on the team on May 10, 2018, who "all gave accounts" of such comments and did not report any inappropriate physical contact, she told police.

The two Loyola administrators directly involved in firing Snower and reporting him to the state child welfare agency — Baal and former Athletic Director Pat Mahoney — both departed the school last summer. After speaking with the five students, Ball told police the pair spoke with the school's attorney, who advised them to terminate Snower immediately before speaking to any other students. The school's lawyer also suggested encouraging Snower to resign from his position with FC United.

"We are terminating you," Baal told Snower, after Mahoney had summoned him to a meeting on the day of his termination, according to his lawsuit. Snower asked for the reason for his firing, and Baal told him it was due to complaints of "inappropriate comments to players" from unspecified parents and students, "verbally abusing the players and making inappropriate jokes."

The suit claims Baal only provided the coach with two examples of allegations of verbal abuse or inappropriate jokes, which Snower said were false rumors.

"We also want you to resign from FC United," Baal told Snower, according to the suit, citing the presence of some Loyola students on the team. She warned him that if he did not voluntarily resign she would tell the private club "what we have on you." FC United was informed of Snower's termination from Loyola within about five minutes of it happening, his lawsuit said.

Within an hour of firing Snower, Baal and Mahoney held a meeting of the girls varsity soccer team to let them know "they had fired Snower for abusing them for years and they were sorry that Loyola had not done anything," according to the lawsuit, which claims the school's apology "further defamed Snower's reputation."

The lawsuit claims that Loyola "falsely implied that Snower engaged in a level of misconduct that made his presence as a coach not in the best interests of the players" when it sent an email to parents of the girls varsity soccer team notifying them Snower would no longer be affiliated with Loyola the afternoon of his firing:

"As I am sure you can appreciate, we are unable to share any further details regarding the circumstances which led to this development," Baal and Mahoney told parents. "Please rest assured that, as always, the best interest of our student athletes was our primary consideration in decisions that have been made. You should also know that we have asked Mr. Snower to refrain from any future communication with our students and our parents."

That evening, Baal contacted a DCFS hotline to report that the 24 girls on the team may have been subjected to sexually explicit comments and that some had reported seeing pornographic images on his mobile phone, police said. Snower's lawyer filed the DCFS allegations against him under seal, but the suit claims Baal reported the coach for "outrageous, suggestive comments" and had no "reasonable cause to believe that Snower had engaged in any conduct reportable to DCFS."

School administrators are mandatory reporters who are required by law to report it if they have a reasonable suspicion that a minor child may have been abused. Snower's suit said he was never even accused of any abuse, as defined under the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (ANCRA), which includes all criminal sex offenses. Reports of sexually explicit comments or obscene material found by children on Snower's phone but not intentionally disseminated would not need to be reported, the suit suggested.

As a result of Baal's report to DCFS, police interviewed nearly every player on the team. Police were told players "brushed his statements off as Craig just being Craig." According to their reports, players told investigators Snower was a "creepy guy" with boundary issues. Several expressed concern that they would be benched or lose out on recruitment opportunities if they reported his behavior. One player said Snower's behavior had been getting progressively more inappropriate and volitile and was worse at FC United than at Loyola because she suspected he was more careful around school staff and assistants.

As Patch has previously reported, police reports said Loyola players recounted various inappropriate incidents involving Snower when interviewed by Glenview and Wilmette detectives. They said he asked a player "if she parties and whether she is a 'slut'" and remarked on her "bra size," that he kept a "Hot Moms List" and commented on the bodies of his players' parents and that he told a player "I always wanted to say that to you" after telling starters to take off their clothes, among other things.

Snower's suit claims multiple players on the team "asserted that Snower made inappropriate comments which in fact the players on the team had made, not Snower."

Snower, 44, of Deerfield, was never charged with a crime in connection with the events that led to his firing. An investigation by the Glenview and Wilmette police departments was closed after it was determined no crime took place, and the DCFS investigation was closed as unfounded.

The Illinois Youth Soccer Association disqualified Snower from all its activities after investigations by DCFS and the U.S. Center for Safesport were opened. The association "refused to reinstate Snower" after the closure of the state agency's investigation and has banned him from participation in its activities, according to his lawsuit.

Snower retained former federal prosecutor Susan Bogart after his firing. She filed the suit one day before the statute of limitations would have expired on any defamation claim. Bogart did not respond Tuesday to a request for an interview or a series of written questions about her complaint.

The complaint alleges two counts of defamation — per se and per quod — one count of false light and one count of tortious interference with existing and prospective business relations. According to the suit, the financial result of Snower's firing from FC United already exceeds $105,000 and will continue to rise. The suit also asks for the award of attorneys' fees.

Snower, a third-generation member of a Glenview-based manufacturing business and 1992 New Trier High School graduate, had coached youth soccer since 2003 and had been at Loyola since January 2004. He was awarded the Illinois High School Soccer Coach of the Year award in 2012 and the Illinois Youth Soccer Association, from which he is now banned, named him competitive coach of the year in December 2017. His lawsuit said Snower "gained a reputation as an inspiring, successful soccer coach" and suggested hundreds of players could attest that he has not made inappropriate sexual comments at any time as coach. It said he had never received a complaint at FC United or Loyola of any sexually inappropriate comments before his firing.

A spokesperson for Loyola Academy said the school declined to comment and would not say whether school representatives had yet been served with the lawsuit. A DCFS spokesperson has not responded to a query about the case. An initial court hearing has been set for July 3.

In the unlikely event his lawsuit were to make it to trial, Snower's attorney would need to prove statements by school officials to parents and to DCFS were actually false. More likely than the jury trial demanded in the initial complaint, the case will be dismissed by a judge or resolved by a confidential settlement.

Read more: Craig Snower v Loyola Academy (Complaint filed May 9, 2019)

Related:

• Sexually Inappropriate Comments 'Commonplace' From Coach: Reports
• Loyola Girls Soccer Coach Craig Snower Fired Over Comments To Players
• Loyola Academy Principal Kathryn Baal Out, Assistant Promoted
• Longtime Loyola Athletic Director Pat Mahoney Steps Down