Two former University of Kentucky swimmers who then became assistant coaches have settled their sexual harassment and sexual assault lawsuit against former head coach Lars Jorgensen.
As reported by the Lexington Herald Leader, Briggs Alexander and “Jane Doe” settled their claims on undisclosed terms against Jorgensen last week in U.S. District Court in Lexington in a brief agreement signed by Judge Karen Caldwell.
Jorgensen was head coach of the Wildcats' swimming and diving program from 2013 to 2023. In April 2024, Alexander and Doe sued Jorgensen and accused him of a pattern of sexual abuse during their time at Kentucky. They were collegiate swimmers who later worked under Jorgensen as assistant swim coaches.
“Throughout his tenure at the University of Kentucky,” they said in their suit, “Jorgensen exploited his position of power, fostering an unhealthy, sexualized environment for the women’s swim team, grooming female athletes with the intention of committing future sexual abuse, and sexually assaulting and raping members of his female coaching staff that he directly supervised.”
According to John Cheves of the Herald Leader, a separate lawsuit in U.S. District Court last year saw Jorgensen fail to get his homeowner’s insurance company, Liberty Insurance Corp., to defend him in the sexual abuse lawsuit or indemnify him against any damages he might face from a settlement or jury award.
The former athletes' claims against the University of Kentucky and its former athletics director, Mitch Barnhart, remain active and are scheduled for trial in May 2027.
"Alexander and Doe are also suing UK and Barnhart, who was Jorgensen’s supervisor until 2023, when the swim coach was paid $75,000 and allowed to quietly resign despite misconduct complaints from students and at least two internal investigations that were ongoing at UK," Cheves reported Monday. "The lawsuit argues that UK turned a blind eye to warnings about Jorgensen’s predatory behavior toward women for years, even as they and a third UK swimmer were abused by the coach. Jorgensen, UK and Barnhart have all denied wrongdoing."
In 2025, Jorgensen was ruled permanently ineligible from coaching by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit organization established by Congress to protect athletes who compete in Olympic sports.
In its online disciplinary database, the Center for SafeSport cited Jorgensen for “misconduct” and specifically listed an “intimate relationship involving a power imbalance; physical misconduct; retaliation; sexual harassment; (and) sexual misconduct,” Cheves reported.
