Ex-Penn State football trainer was forced out after fraternity controversy, lawsuit claims
A former Penn State football trainer filed a lawsuit Monday that accused the university and its athletic director of making his working conditions “so intolerable” that he resigned.
Tim Bream, who served as the in-house adviser at the fraternity house where Tim Piazza was fatally injured in February 2017, also accused the university of scapegoating him to distance the university from Piazza’s death.
A university spokesman declined to comment Wednesday, saying the university does not typically comment on pending litigation.
The 88-page wrongful termination lawsuit filed in Centre County listed the university, athletic director Sandy Barbour and senior associate athletic director Charmelle Green.
“The primary reason the lawsuit was filed was to vindicate Tim Bream,” attorney Steven Marino said. “... He was a wonderful trainer. He provided excellent service and we maintain the position that he was adversely affected by the university’s decisions because of political reasons.”
Bream was hired by the university in February 2012 after a nearly two decadeslong stint with the Chicago Bears. The university recruited Bream, an alumnus who planned to retire from the university, Marino said.
Bream’s responsibilities expanded in August 2016 when he took the adviser role at Beta Theta Pi. He was seen on video in the fraternity house after an intoxicated Piazza fell several times in February 2017.
Bream has never been criminally charged in the sprawling case that prompted changes to state law, but Marino said Bream lost his reputation and nearly half of his salary at Penn State.
“He’s defined by being an athletic trainer and that was taken from him by Penn State,” Marino said. “Penn State’s ulterior motive to avoid scandal had no relation to his job performance.”
Bream resigned in February 2018. The situation forced him to relocate to a new community and be “isolated from a community ... which had become an integral part of his life,” Marino wrote.
His six-count lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 11:29 AM.