Former Munster swim team member claims in lawsuit he was hazed

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Updated: March 16, 2012 8:16AM

A Munster High School student is suing school officials in federal court, claiming they allowed him to be hazed while he was a member of the boys swim team.

The student, identified as JH, says in the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, that he joined the swim team in 2009 as a freshman.

The older students would haze him and the other younger students, the lawsuit claims, a practice that was commonly known by school officials.

Hazing included forcibly cutting off his hair, twice, before sectionals, and swimmers striking each other on the back “with a plastic bat known as the ‘peacemaker,’” the suit said

The older students would also order the younger ones to run errands, such as returning their lunch trays, and would take the younger students’ toiletry items and swim equipment.

When JH’s mother found out, she reported the hazing to the swim coach, Matthew Pavlovich, and Athletic Director Michael Smith, but they did nothing, according to the lawsuit.

Principal Steven Tripenfeldas investigated the matter and eventually told the mother “it appears some inappropriate actions occurred” and that steps would be taken, the lawsuit says, although it does not detail what steps the school took.

Ivan Bodensteiner, the attorney for the student, said his family objected to the school’s finding of inappropriate actions taking place and the steps the school opted to take, although he would not say what those were.

The School Town of Munster has not received a copy of the lawsuit, according to someone who answered the phone, and could not comment on the case.

JH’s mother appealed Tripenfeldas’ findings to Superintendent William Pfister, the district’s director of human relations and the Board of School Trustees, but they all sided with Tripenfeldas, according to the lawsuit.

JH eventually quit the swim team because the hazing did not stop, the suit claims.

The student is asking for the school to enact a policy to end hazing and for compensatory damages.