A former student and baseball player at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant has filed a lawsuit against the school, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages stemming from an alleged punch in the chest from an assistant coach. 

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, naming Central Michigan University, Aaron Hilt in his role as assistant coach of CMU’s baseball team, Jacob Sabol in his role as head coach of CMU’s baseball team, and Amy Folan in her role as CMU’s Director of Athletics. 

The former player, Dean Brown, claims assault and battery, negligence, negligent hiring and intentional infliction of emotional distress as he was removed from team chats and barred from the baseball stadium after conversations, reports and communications that took place in the aftermath of the incident. 

In response, the university said, “CMU does not comment on pending litigation.” 

Brown has since transferred to a junior college with the intention to play baseball, the lawsuit says. Brown said in the lawsuit that he lost a year of college eligibility for student athletics after the circumstances at CMU, which is an NCAA Division I institution. 

The alleged incident happened on March 2, as CMU was preparing to play against Western Kentucky University. As was their usual routine, the pitchers and the rest of the team were gathered in a group before the game. 

The usual pregame routine involved lining up in the field’s bullpen “to receive first bumps from Defendant Hilt,” the lawsuit claims.   

The lawsuit claims Brown raised his fist as Hilt approached, expecting the usual greeting, but instead Hilt “punched him in the chest with significant force, which knocked the wind out of Brown, who fell backwards.” 

Brown was left with a large dark bruise. 

“Due to the sheer number of eyewitnesses to the event, word spread quickly throughout the entire team that Defendant Hilt had punched Dean. This resulted in other players sharing messages, GIFs, and memes made in reference to the incident,” the lawsuit claims.

Dean reported the incident to the head coach on March 3. He further sent an email on March 17 to the athletic director to report the incident. 

Brown pitched his final game for CMU on March 19; thereafter, he was benched and removed from the opportunity to play during the games.” 

On April 18, the lawsuit claims, Brown sent a teammate a Snapchat message that read, “time to die,” intending it to be a reference to the team’s hype-up song of the season, “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses. 

“Instead of replying to the text in a familiar manner,” the lawsuit claims, the teammate reported the text to police as a threat. 

Brown was allegedly spoken to by two police officers the next day, and soon thereafter, suspended from the team. 

The lawsuit claims Brown was also told he was not allowed on stadium grounds until further notice; both he and his parents were removed from group texts and subscriptions. 

Paula Wethington

Paula Wethington is a digital producer at CBS Detroit. She previously held digital content roles at NEWSnet, Gannett/USA Today network and The Monroe News in Michigan. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.