The number of plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing North Carolina State University officials of not protecting athletes from a trainer’s alleged sexual abuse and harassment on campus has grown to 31.
As reported by The News & Observer of Raleigh, the amended lawsuit is part of a legal battle that began in 2022, when former soccer player Benjamin Locke filed a federal lawsuit accusing Debbie Yow and other N.C. State leaders of failing to protect him and other male athletes from sexual abuse and harassment by Robert Murphy. Murphy served as the Wolfpack’s director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer from January 2012 until June 2, 2022.
State recruited the men to play soccer and other sports at the school, but left them vulnerable to Murphy's tendencies to touch their genitals during massages, the men say, as well as to Murphy’s harassing behavior while he collected urine samples for drug testing, according to criminal justice reporter Virginia Bridges of The News & Observer.
“Instead, administrators and staff in the Athletics Department chose to protect Murphy and the reputation of the institution by minimizing, condoning, ignoring and/or covering up his sexual assaults and harassment and the abusive culture that existed,” the lawsuit says.
As reported by The Carolina Journal, all plaintiffs played for NCSU sports teams between 2010 and 2024. Other than Locke, none of the plaintiffs’ sports are listed in the complaint. Twenty-eight plaintiffs were scholarship athletes, and 22 currently live in North Carolina.
As reported by Bridges of The News & Observer, Murphy resigned in 2022 after Locke’s allegations promoted a campus Title IX investigation. After Locke’s complaint, two additional former athletes filed similar lawsuits in 2023. By September 2025, 14 former athletes had signed onto the lawsuits.
Murphy has denied the allegations, and has never been criminally charged, although his state Board of Athletic Trainer Examiners license was suspended in December 2022 and permanently revoked in 2023. His attorney Seth Blum said in a written statement last fall that after three years of representing Murphy, there hasn’t been “one scrap of credible evidence that he assaulted anyone.”
University attorneys have vigorously challenged the allegations in court filings, according to Bridges. "They contend that Murphy’s reported behavior wasn’t concerning enough to merit an investigation, and the people with the authority to take action weren’t told," she wrote.
Attorneys for Murphy and other university officials didn’t respond to a request for comment from The New & Observer.
As reported by Bridges, the amended lawsuit filed Friday in Wake County Superior Court indicates that 25 of the 31 plaintiffs complained about Murphy’s process to collect urine samples for drug tests. Murphy would often ask the men to fully expose themselves, allowing him to stare at their genitals, the lawsuit states.
Eighteen of the former scholarship athletes say Murphy’s sports treatments and massages included Murphy touching near or on their genitals, even when he was treating their foot or their Achilles tendon, the lawsuit states. Twelve of the men described problematic drug tests and sexual abuse during massages or treatments.
According to The Carolina Journal, the lawsuit lists as additional defendants former NCSU chancellor Randy Woodson, former athletic director Debbie Yow, current athletic director Eugene “Boo” Corrigan, and five other current and former athletic department administrators.
The former players seek damages against Murphy for assault, battery, intrusion upon seclusion, and constructive fraud, the Journal reported, adding the plaintiffs seek damages for negligence and “negligent retention and/or supervision” against the current and former NCSU administrators.
