Another lawsuit has been filed by a former Ursuline High School football player, this time involving a former student and varsity football player who transferred to Cardinal Mooney High school concerning allegations involving Ursuline football and its coaching staff.

The lawsuit is seeking to allow the Mooney student to play football with the team and claims that OHSAA bylaws discriminate students that transfer from a religion-based school to another religion-based school.

According to the lawsuit filed on Friday, the family of the former Ursuline student claims that head coach Dan Reardon — between 2022 through 2025 — 'fostered and enforced a toxic team culture characterized by bullying, ridicule, and fear.'

The lawsuit is seeking to allow the student, who is currently a senior at Cardinal Mooney, to play football for Mooney, as he transferred on August 22 ahead of the hazing allegations coming to light and before Ursuline canceled its football season on September 12.

The lawsuit, filed by the law firm Betras Kopp on behalf on the student's parents, is against the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) and Cardinal Mooney High School.

The lawsuit claims that OHSAA "discriminates against students who choose to attend religious schools" based on an OHSAA rule that allows students to play when "a student enrolled in a non-public school that does not offer a particular sport may transfer to a public local school for the purposes participating in that sport, without being subject to transfer consequences."

OHSAA transfer bylaws state: If a student transfers at any time after commencing the ninth-grade year, the student shall be ineligible for all OHSAA tournaments in those sports in which the student participated during the 12 months immediately preceding this transfer. In addition, the student shall be ineligible for all contests at all levels after the first 50% of the maximum allowable varsity regular season contests have been competed in those sports in which the student participated during the 12 months immediately preceding this transfer. The transfer consequence shall remain in effect until the one-year anniversary of the date of enrollment in the school to which the student transferred, at which time the student is no longer considered a transfer student. 

Exception to the OHSAA bylaw has several exceptions, including: 

If a student is compelled to transfer from a high school as a result of this documented harassment, intimidation or bullying, the Executive Director's Office, in its sole discretion, may waive all or part of the period of ineligibility for one or more sport/sports seasons provided:
1) The District's Anti-Harassment, Anti-Intimidation, and Anti­Bullying policies and procedures adopted in accordance with ORC
§3313 .666 have been substantially followed and complied with; and

2) The District provides the Executive Director's Office with a copy of the duly adopted policies and procedures; and

3) The District secures the appropriate releases from the student/student's parents authorizing the District to provide a complete record of the events and circumstances on which the policies and procedures were initiated including: 

a) A specific, detailed report of the prohibited incident(s);
b) An outline of the procedures used to respond to and investigate the reported incident( s );
c) A copy of the findings that were a result of the complaint process and investigation;
d) A specific, detailed disciplinary procedure for any individual found guilty of harassment, intimidation or bullying;
e) All reports of notification to parents or guardians of any student involvement in the incident(s);
f) A report of the intervention strategies and remedial action the school has undertaken to assist the student and redress the complaint.

4) The District provides the Executive Director's Office with all of the above-referenced records.
5) In concurrence with ORC §3313.666 (A)(2), this exception cannot be used for any isolated incidents or alleged incidents of harassment, intimidation or bullying, nor can this exception be used in cases where there has been no contemporaneous reporting of the alleged bullying, harassment or intimidation.

A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was granted in the case on Friday, with the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas agreeing with the background in the case, that the student "will experience irreparable harm in the form of the loss of Plaintiff's 2025-26 interscholastic athletic season..." and stated that "no amount of money could fairly compensate..."

The magistrate ordered that "Defendants Ohio High School Athletic Association and Cardinal Mooney High School are hereby enjoined from prohibiting L.K. from participating in the remainder of the 2025-2026 interscholastic athletic seasons and postseasons tournaments at Cardinal Mooney High School or until further order of this Court."

The TRO will be through October 31 and another preliminary injection is scheduled to be set. 

ALLEGATIONS THAT LED TO TRANSFER

According to the lawsuit, the student left Ursuline following a series of incidents involving Ursiline football coaches and students. 

The lawsuit alleges that the student was mimicked by other student athletes following a 2024 final playoff game after Ursuline coach Timothy McGlynn allegedly berated the student calling him "dumb," "stupid," and "f*****g r******d."

The lawsuit alleges that the student suffered severe emotional distress that impacted both his behavioral and academic functioning, which led to the student being examined by a pediatrician. 

In the lawsuit, it claims the student decided to transfer to Mooney "due to extreme hazing, bullying and psychological manipulation" by Reardon and his staff. 

The pediatrician that treated the student believes that the student's mental health and overall well-being have "improved significantly," since transferring. The doctor is also mentioned as stating that "participation in sports has been vital to his self-image and mental well-being."

21 News has reached out to the Diocese and Cardinal Mooney for comment on the story, and OHSAA, but has not heard back as of the publishing of this story. 

Read the full lawsuit here: