De La Salle football team (Photo: Facebook)
Warren De La Salle announced late Monday that it fired football coach Mike Giannone amid a hazing scandal that has prompted three students to sue against the school, media outlets report.
The families of two black students and a Hispanic schoolmate suspended in November by De La Salle Collegiate filed a discrimination lawsuit against the all-boys Catholic school earlier in the day.
The Macomb County Circuit Court suit claims they were suspended for their alleged roles in the locker room incident while 10 white students also suspected of participating remain in school, Fox 2 reports.
The trio, who've missed 46 school days, allegedly held a younger football player face-down on the floor while one sexually taunted and prodded him with a broomstick, the Detroit Free Press reports. There was no penetration.
The lawsuit alleges that the students were blackmailed when school President John Knight offered to let them return if they named others involved, which they declined to do.
The students did agree to speak to an independent investigator hired by the parochial prep school and say they expect that inquiry to clear them.
A De La Salle spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking comment from Fox 2.
St. Clair County Prosecutor Michael Wendling is reviewing whether to charge the students.
