The head coach of the Warroad High School girls’ hockey team is suing a group of parents for defamation after they issued a public letter detailing a string of allegations relating to the conduct of team staff.
In a lawsuit filed in Minnesota District Court, longtime Warroad coach David Marvin says the letter released earlier this month contains “baseless allegations, wild fabrications, and false statements.”
The suit names parents Shana and Matt Lanctot, Jeff and Patti Johnson, Coreen Lindquist and Kristin Coauette Johnson – all of whom have children who are current or former players on the Warroad Girls team – as the defendants, claiming they have “conducted a campaign to harm Marvin’s reputation and have him removed as a coach for the Warroad Girls Hockey Team.”
“The school investigated those allegations and later renewed Marvin’s coach contract,” the suit reads. “Unsatisfied, Defendants then moved their campaign to social media and continued to harm Marvin’s reputation.”
When the letter was released by the group of parents, Warroad High School said that the “concerns raised by some individuals regarding the Warroad Girls Hockey program have already been addressed.”
“We recognize that some may not be satisfied, but ISD #690 is looking forward and prepared for a positive and exciting season as we support all our Warriors!” it added.
The letter sent to media outlets didn’t mention Marvin by name, but claimed that players had been subjected to “sexual harassment, bullying, public urination, and drunkenness by staff,” with alleged incidents including one in which a staff member drank so much alcohol they passed out in a player’s room.
In his lawsuit, Marvin, who has led the powerhouse girls hockey program to consecutive Class A titles in 2022 and 2023, contends: “From the nature of the allegations and the letter itself, it is clear that Marvin, as the head coach of the ‘Warroad Girls Hockey Program,’ was the focus of the false statements.”
The suit then goes on to say that Shana Lanctot named Marvin as the subject of the letter when appearing on a podcast in Grand Forks, and later made posts on her social media accounts continuing to allege abuse within the Warroad Girls program.
“All Defendants refuse to stop making defamatory statements despite officials from Warroad High School expressly telling them that they are ‘sharing false information,'” the suit continues.
“In early November 2023, after Defendants issued the October 30 Letter, Warroad High School issued a statement acknowledging that ‘for over 10 month, a few parents of past and present players have been sharing false information.’ The school pointed out ‘two important facts’: first, all allegations that had been brought forth were reviewed as part of the school’s ‘due diligence’; and second, after all of that work, ‘the school board voted to renew coaches contracts.”
After the school issued the statement saying the concerns raised in the letter had already been addressed, the suit says the parents persisted “in making and encouraging defamatory comments,” prompting Marvin to launch his defamation suit.
The coach is seeking $50,000 in damages and an injunction against the parents preventing them making defamatory allegations of abuse concerning Marvin.
