Deaf Massachusetts softball player alleges discrimination

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – A Massachusetts college softball player who is deaf has sued her former school alleging she was discriminated against and bullied by the coach before being kicked off the team.

Kayla Finacchiaro said in her suit filed in Middlesex District Court that Newbury College and the school’s softball coach Cassandra Moore discriminated against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act when she was dismissed from the team in March 2016.

The 21-year-old Finacchiaro, who is now a pitcher at Framingham State University, tells The Boston Globe she felt like she was “being bullied constantly, every day, to the point where I started believing it myself.”

The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, an official acknowledgment from Newbury that it violated her rights and a court order ensuring that Newbury will not discriminate against disabled students.

Newbury in a statement said it “unequivocally denies” the allegations.

Moore was fired later in the 2016 season.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com