A fuzzy, six-second video clip shows a basketball player bent over as a man swings a belt, hitting him three times. The sound rings out in the Murrah High School gym.
Jackson lawyer Lisa Ross says the man in the video, which was recorded on a cell phone, is embattled Murrah boys basketball coach Marlon Dorsey.
“It was outrageous,” Ross said about the whippings.
On Tuesday, Ross filed a federal lawsuit against Dorsey and Jackson Public Schools on behalf of three basketball players who say they were physically and verbally abused by the coach.
The lawsuit, which represents one side of a legal argument, also names as defendants assistant boys basketball coach Brandon Sanders and Murrah Principal Freddrick Murray.
Dorsey did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment about the matter.
Dorsey, who has admitted to whipping players, has been on leave since late October. On Oct. 28, school and district officials met with about 30 parents about the matter, but there has been no official word from JPS on Dorsey’s status.