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Robbie Lopez, a former Los Altos High School baseball player, is suing the school district and his former coach because the coach repeatedly benched him.
According to the lawsuit, Los Altos’ head varsity baseball coach, Gabriel Lopez, repeatedly refused to let Lopez play during his senior year, which the suit claims constitute a pattern of “harassment and bullying.”
The suit mentions multiple instances, but also singles out the annual alumni game, stating that “the game is supposed to be a fun day; especially for seniors on the team” and that “every senior on the team played except for” Robbie Lopez.
via San Gabriel Valley Tribune:
The boy’s father, Robert Lopez II, believed the coach’s decision to bench his son throughout the season was because he complained to the district’s athletic director after a disagreement over a fundraising game.
Lopez spoke to the school after the coach did not allow players to practice who had not participated in a fundraising event. It is illegal in California to require students to fundraise to participate in public school activities.
The lawsuit also claimed the teenager had been a starter for three years prior to coach Lopez being hired. Michael Ponce, the lawyer representing Robbie Lopez and his parents, said the prolonged period of relegating him to the bench is “an abuse of the coach’s discretion.”
The suit states that over the course of four months and 14 game, Robbie was been benched and was not allowed the opportunity to show his “offensive or defensive capabilities.”
