Lawsuit: Coaches should have prevented alleged assault on Lobo basketball player

Shane Douma-Sanchez, a walk-on guard for the UNM men’s basketball program, is suing the University of New Mexico and Lobo men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino, claiming the program’s coaching staff is responsible for creating an “unsafe environment” that led to him allegedly being punched by a teammate.

The suit, formally filed Monday in state district court in Albuquerque, states a teammate, identified only as “assailant,” punched Douma-Sanchez and another walk-on while on a road trip in California in November.

Neither Pitino nor anyone else on the staff witnessed the alleged physical assaults, but according to court documents, the staff “knew or should have known about the impending battery and assault on Shane and did nothing to stop it.”

UNM, on behalf of Pitino, has said they are investigating the matter but won’t say much else citing both pending litigation and student privacy laws.

Though still officially a member of the Lobo basketball team and listed on the roster, Douma-Sanchez has not been with the team since the alleged incident.

The teammate who allegedly punched Douma-Sanchez twice — once allegedly fracturing his nose and once in the shoulder he had surgery on two months ago — has not been charged with any crime and is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. That teammate has not missed any playing time related to this incident.

David Adams, Douma-Sanchez’s attorney with Parnall & Adams Law in Albuquerque, spoke with the Journal on Tuesday. The decision to leave the teammate’s name out of the suit was intentional, he said, reiterating the claim that the coaching staff could have prevented the incident from happening.

The suit specifically alleges violations of the New Mexico Civil Rights Act and Tort Claims Act and seeks relief for actual damages that include loss of enjoyment of life, loss of future earnings, personal injury, medical costs, pain and suffering, disfigurement, mental anguish and distress and request award for actual and punitive damages, attorneys fees and any “other relief as the Court deems just and proper.”

The “assailant” allegedly “repeatedly hazed and harassed” Douma-Sanchez, making him feel “unwelcome and unsafe.” The suit claims “UNM turned a blind eye to this misconduct.”

The alleged mistreatment allegedly turned physical following the team’s Nov. 26 chartered flight to Palm Springs for a two-game tournament.

Douma-Sanchez in an on-camera interview with KRQE in early December said this was the first time any issues between him and any teammate rose to the level of physical violence.

The teammate was allegedly upset over where the team’s walk-ons were sitting on the flight and began to threaten those walk-ons.

At one point during the flight, a UNM assistant coach tried to calm the argument, the court document states, but adds the “intervention was ineffective.”

After the airplane landed, the suit states the coaching staff deboarded and then the “Assailant followed through on his threats, punching Shane in the face and breaking his nose. ... (then) also struck Shane on his injured shoulder.”

It states the “assailant” punched the second walk-on, too, also in his injured shoulder.

That walk-on player has not brought forth any legal action and has remained at all team functions since.

The lawsuit claims other players calmed the alleged incident and the team then took a bus to their hotel.

Several hours later, the “assailant” went to the room of both walk-on players and threatened Douma-Sanchez again.

The suit states the “assailant” turned his aggression toward the other walk-on, “throwing him into the bathtub and punching him before other UNM players intervened.”

Douma-Sanchez “felt humiliated, injured and uncertain about how to address the escalating violence,” according to the suit.

The suit states when Douma-Sanchez told the team’s coaches what had happened, including about being punched, he was offered the option of staying with the team or being flown home the next day (Nov. 27). He chose to go home, where he was examined by a doctor on Nov. 28.

The suit states “evaluations confirmed that Shane has suffered a fractured nasal bone and a new injury to his recently repaired shoulder.”

There is no indication in the suit that Douma-Sanchez reported the injuries to team medical personnel who were on the trip.

A Journal reporter covering the team in California that week spoke at times with players, coaches, assistants, staff members, family of players and fans of the team and none mentioned an incident on the flight to the game.

After filing a tort claims notice on Nov. 29 — the day the Lobos were playing the second game of the Palm Springs event — Douma-Sanchez’s suit claims Pitino called and asked why he got a lawyer and added “you just want to make sure these lawyers don’t milk you for money.”

The suit also states that the “assailant,” though his lawyer and others, tried to make false statements about the incident “in a misguided attempt to manipulate the facts.”

UNM will have an opportunity to respond to the lawsuit’s allegations and then a judge would determine from there how to proceed.

It is unclear when UNM may complete its investigation into the matter, but players and coaches have all been interviewed over the past month.