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Jacoby Davis

Football player expelled over pregancy sues Abbeville school

A former Vermilion Catholic High student-athlete expelled in 2013 for allegedly impregnating a coed is seeking damages, including loss earning capacity and college athletic scholarship.
Jacoby Davis, a star football player, sued the Catholic Church, Vermilion Catholic High School, VC principal Michael Guilbeaux and Pastor William Blanda.
In the lawsuit, Davis explains he was a high school junior and an athlete at VC. He alleges he was notified by Guilbeaux and the school’s chancellor, Fr. Blanda, of “immediate expulsion from the school.”
The lawsuit states the reason given for the expulsion was that Davis was in “direct violation of the school’s vague moral turpitude policy as listed in the school’s handbook -- specifically, impregnating a young woman.”
The lawsuit also says that “One of the alleged young mothers-to-be, a Caucasian female and also a Vermilion Catholic High School student, was allowed to remain in school without any form of sanctions on the part of the school.”
When Davis was expelled, the female VC student who was pregnant had not given birth and the lawsuit states, “The school had no way of knowing whether Davis was the biological father.”
Davis appealed the expulsion but was denied by school officials, the lawsuit stated.
He states in the lawsuit that because of the expulsion, athletic scholarship offers dried up.
It also states Davis suffers from “extreme anxiety and emotional distress, public embarrassment and humiliation. Davis stated, in the lawsuit, he has become suicidal.
The lawsuit said Davis suffered:
• Medical expenses - past and future
• Mental anguish - past and future
• loss of enjoyment of life
• loss of financial gain
• loss of earning capacity
The suit does not indicate whether the female student has since given birth.

A lawsuit represents only one side of a dispute.

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