Ex-Virginia Tech Soccer Player Allegedly Benched for Refusing to Kneel Gets $100K Settlement

A former Virginia Tech women’s soccer player who accused her coach of benching her because of her political opinions will reportedly receive at least $100,000 as part of an agreement to dismiss a federal lawsuit.

Kiersten Hening will receive the award as part of a settlement in the lawsuit she filed in 2021 against head coach Charles “Chugger” Adair on First Amendment grounds, her attorney Cameron Norris said last week, according to the Roanoke Times.

Norris noted the terms of the settlement did not include an admission of wrongdoing by either his client or Adair.

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Hening, who was a midfielder/defender for the Hokies from 2018 to 2020, sued Adair in his personal and official capacity as coach, alleging he punished her for her political views, which often differed from her teammates during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

Hening claimed she was removed from her starting position and pressured to leave the team after she 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 putting his finger in her face.

Hening 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.”

Adair continued to berate Hening until he benched her and ultimately made things so intolerable that she felt she had no choice but to quit the team, according to the suit.

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