Ex-Virginia Tech Soccer Player Allegedly Benched for Refusing to Kneel Allowed to Proceed With Lawsuit

A judge recently ruled that a former Virginia Tech women’s soccer player can continue a lawsuit against her former coach after she was allegedly benched and pressured to leave the team for declining to kneel during a pregame social justice demonstration.

Kiersten Hening, who was a midfielder/defender for the Hokies from 2018 to 2020, sued coach Charles “Chugger” Aidair in 2021 on First Amendment grounds, which federal Judge Thomas Cullen announced on Dec. 2 can proceed to trial.

Hening alleged that Adair was not a fan of her political views and that she often differed from her teammates on social justice issues during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

Hening further explained in the lawsuit that while she “supports social justice and believes that black lives matter,” she “does not support BLM the organization,” citing its “tactics and core tenets of its mission statement, including defunding the police.”

After Hening declined to kneel during a reading of a “unity statement” before a game against UVA on Sept. 12, 2020, she said Adair “verbally attacked her” at halftime, claiming she was “b–tching and moaning” while jabbing a finger in her face.

The coach continued to berate Hening until he benched her and ultimately made things so intolerable that she felt compelled to quit the team, according to the suit.

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