Former California women’s basketball player and current WNBA All-Star guard Layshia Clarendon has filed a lawsuit against Cal claiming she was sexually assaulted by a longtime member of the athletic department.
The school acknowledged the lawsuit Wednesday night and said the staff member, Mohamed Muqtar, had recently been placed on paid leave.
The assistant director of student services, Muqtar has been working for the university for just more than 25 years, the school said. An e-mail to Muqtar’s Cal email account was not immediately returned.
Cal said in a statement ‘the University is aware of the complaint, but has not received a copy of the lawsuit nor had the benefit of reviewing the allegations.’
Former California women’s basketball player and current WNBA guard Layshia Clarendon has filed a lawsuit against Cal claiming she was sexually assaulted a longtime member of staff
Clarendon said that it was a member of the athletic department who had assaulted her
Muqta was introduced to her as ‘one of the main point people for athletes on campus,’ the complaint says, and initially assisted her and other athletes with book purchases, scholarships ‘and the basics of living on campus and adjusting to the new environment.’
The suit claims that Clarendon viewed him ‘as a mentor and father figure’ at the time.
Muqtar began taking Clarendon on one-on-one outings, such as dinners that he would pay for, where he ‘built up trust’ with her.
Muqtar was known as ‘The Mayor’ on campus. The suit claims: ‘During their one-on-one outings, and in his office with the door closed, Muqtar began to question Clarendon about her personal life, including about sexuality, sexual experiences and sexual encounters. At the time, Clarendon did not understand that this was wrong and inappropriate.’
The suit as seen by Deadspin claims that Muqtar proceeded to sexually assault her later in her freshman year:
‘After taking Clarendon to dinner one evening, Muqtar invited her to his house to watch a jazz concert video. Based on Muqtar’s position within UC Berkeley, and her feeling that Muqtar was a mentor and father-figure, Clarendon felt that she could trust Muqtar and accompanied him to his house to watch the video. During this visit, she excused herself to use the restroom. When she was using the toilet, out of nowhere, Muqtar opened the door while her genitals were exposed and before she had pulled her pants up. Muqtar then proceeded to sexually batter Clarendon against her will. Specifically, Muqtar forced his fingers into her vagina against her will and without her consent.’
Although she did not report the assault at the time, Clarendon states that many of its affect only began to affect her when she was old.
She stated that she was diagnosed with delayed onset post traumatic stress disorder last spring. Other results of the assault are listed as ‘severe mental pain, suffering, shock, emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, anxiety, nightmares, sexual flashbacks, sexual dysfunction, and depression amongst other things.’
In a series of Tweets Layshia Clarendon outlined her reasoning for bringing the lawsuit
The alleged assaults occurred in 2009 when Clarendon was 18 and a freshman
Clarendon, who plays for the Atlanta Dream and was at Cal from 2009-13, posted on Twitter her thoughts about the lawsuit.
‘Regarding the news today: I want the shame to not be my own anymore, because it’s not my shame to carry, but it’s something that I’ve had to carry. It’s a horrible thing to live in silence, to carry that pain and that weight and the guilt.
‘My biggest hope is that he never does this to anyone else. That no one else has to suffer under his hand, or him violating their bodies again. That this would be the end of him assaulting people. #TimesUp.’
‘It feels there is a big level of responsibility there for me, to make sure this doesn’t continue. And he doesn’t continue to harm other people.’
Jennifer Bandlow, a partner at the Cochran Firm, which represents Clarendon, told ESPN: ‘The days of men in power, sexually assaulting women for their own personal gratification and without any fear of consequence, are over. What happened to Layshia is reprehensible and disgusting and should not happen to any woman ever again.’
Cal explained in its statement that this case goes beyond the athletic department for investigation.
The statement reads: ‘Our department policy states that once anyone in Cal Athletics is made aware of any instance or allegation of a violation of University policy involving a coach, staff member or student-athlete, those matters are referred to the appropriate departments on campus responsible for investigating them.
Layshia Clarendon of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream — who played at Cal from 2009 through ’13 — claims that Mohamed Muqtar assaulted her when she was a freshman
‘Athletics does not have its own specific conduct process nor does it investigate allegations or cases on its own, but follows the University’s policy and works in concert with campus professionals who are responsible for those areas. All university staff are also required to complete sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention training, and those programs have increased in recent years.
‘Cal Athletics is and will always be committed to fostering a culture where everyone feels safe, welcome and respected. We encourage anyone who is feeling distressed or troubled to contact the PATH to Care Center and other campus resources.
‘Layshia holds a special place in our history for her contributions to Cal women’s basketball both on and off the court and we are saddened to hear of the allegations that are coming to light today.’