Feds Look Into Sexual Harassment Case At Lake Braddock

BURKE, VA—The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating Lake Braddock Secondary School's response sexual harassment claims against the former girl's varsity basketball coach.

Bill Park, a parent of a former player, accuses the school and district leadership of doing nothing to protect female players from Coach John Giannelli's harassment and abuse, WUSA reported. He filed a complaint with the DOE in November after a school district investigation found no wrongdoing on its part.

Giannelli resigned in March 2016 after numerous harassment and bullying claims appeared in school surveys completed by families. He had been a part time coach from 2013 to 2016.

Former student and player Lizzie Fitzpatrick first reported Ginnelli's alleged behavior to school officials three months before his resignation. She has spoken out in an interview with WUSA, detailing the coach's alleged crude comments to her and other teammates.

Fairfax County Public Schools completed its internal investigation in July 2017 based on a complaint Park submitted. The investigation found the coach acted inappropriately but the school district properly addressed the coach's behavior after administration became aware of it.

In response to the DOE investigation, the school district released this statement to WUSA:

FCPS takes seriously any and all allegations of sexual harassment, bullying or other allegations of inappropriate behavior reported by staff or students. Nearly 20 individuals were interviewed as part of the FCPS investigative process into the allegations raised at Lake Braddock Secondary School. The Lake Braddock coach was removed from FCPS nearly two years ago (early 2016), and has not been employed by FCPS in any capacity since then. We cannot provide further details due to legal confidentiality of personnel and student matters.

Read more from WUSA.

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