Lacey, NJ football player wins $145,000 in school fat-shaming lawsuit

🔴 Assistant coach repeatedly fat-shamed student, lawsuit says

🔴 Team staff failed to protect player from abuse, it claims

🔴 School district agreed to pay $145,000 but admitted no wrongdoing

LACEY — A clinically obese high school football player has won a $145,000 settlement in a lawsuit accusing his coach of repeatedly fat-shaming him in front of his teammates.

The settlement between Lacey schools and the player's family, first reported last week by John Paff with transparencynj.com, was approved by an Ocean County judge on May 31.

It includes $37,187.50 for the attorney representing the player's family and $107,812.50 for the player.

New Jersey 101.5 has contacted the attorney and the district for comment.

Fat-shaming on the football field

According to the lawsuit first filed in June 2022, the player was repeatedly harassed by Lacey's assistant football coach Jack Bush.

"Look how fat you got," said Bush, according to the lawsuit. "Lose weight."

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The abuse from "The Bush Man" began in August 2020 during summer practices when the student was a rising freshman and escalated when the player became a sophomore, according to the lawsuit.

It was hard for the student to lose weight due to his medication for irritable bowel syndrome, the lawsuit said.

The student was then hospitalized for nine days with COVID-19 in September 2021. He returned to practice a week later.

"Man you got fat; what have you been doing? You need to lose weight," were Bush's first words to the student, according to the lawsuit.

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The lawsuit also accused Head Coach Lou Vircillo, now in his 44th year with Lacey, of failing to keep Bush away from the player even after he promised to do so.

As the season progressed, Lacey's coaches stopped putting the student in plays during practice. The student texted his mother that day saying that "the coaches had won." He was eventually told to turn in his football gear.

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