Atlanta Dream guard Layshia Clarendon said in a lawsuit obtained Wednesday that a University of California athletic department employee assaulted her when she was a student at the university.
The lawsuit, which claims negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Cal, said that assistant director for student services Mohamed Muqtar opened a door while Clarendon was using the bathroom at his home and assaulted her during her freshman year in 2009-10, according to USA Today.
Clarendon told ESPN she never came forward with the alleged assault as a student at Cal, but decided to take responsibility for the assault and speak out so Muqtar won’t create any more victims.
“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,” Clarendon wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Clarendon played at Cal from 2009-13 before she was picked ninth in the 2013 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. The 26-year-old Clarendon has been with the Dream since 2016.
In a statement, the Cal athletic department said Muqtar has been placed on paid leave as of Wednesday night.
"Cal Athletics is and will always be committed to fostering a culture where everyone feels safe, welcome and respected," the department said in part of the statement according to USA Today. "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."
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