Former Wisconsin coach Marisa Moseley caused ‘severe emotional distress,’ players say in lawsuit

Alexis Duckett, Krystyna Ellew, Mary Ferrito, Tara Stauffacher and Tessa Towers, in a 51-page lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, said they suffered "severe emotional distress" playing for Moseley at Wisconsin. They also accused Moseley of retaliation and discrimination.

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The former players said in the complaint that Moseley "unconstitutionally toyed with the mental health of her players ... as a means of exerting control over every facet of their lives."

The Board of Regents and former senior associate athletic director Justin Doherty, who was the sport administrator for women's basketball, were named as defendants along with Moseley.

An investigation by the Wisconsin State Journal in July detailed accusations by former players of Moseley and cross country coach Mackenzie Wartenberger of psychological abuse and the athletes said the university knew about it.

The players say Moseley violated their constitutional rights to privacy by pressuring them to talk about issues involving parents or romantic partners and mental health symptoms and treatment during one-on-one meetings they described as "intense."

They also said Moseley retaliated against players by threatening their playing time and scholarships based on their choices whether to disclose aspects about their life in those meetings.

The players seek unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and costs in a jury trial.

UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas declined to comment, saying the school had not yet seen the complaint that was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Reached by phone, Moseley said she didn't want to comment. Doherty didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.

The former players were with the Badgers for anywhere from one to three seasons from 2019 to 2024. Moseley was named Wisconsin coach in 2021 and resigned after the 2024-25 season ended, citing personal reasons.

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Three former Wisconsin women's basketball players other than those who filed the lawsuit Friday told the State Journal earlier this year that there was a lack of leadership and a toxic culture in the Badgers program under Moseley.

The plaintiffs cited BadgerExtra’s reporting in the lawsuit when they claimed that Wisconsin has a "history of ignoring reports of psychological abuse involving its coaches."

The complaint described allegations that Moseley endangered the mental health of Badgers players and that Wisconsin officials didn't step in despite getting reports from athletes.

According to the complaint, Ellew attributed mental health issues that she experienced during her freshman year in 2021-22 to psychological abuse by Moseley. Moseley gave Ellew a choice, the complaint said: Go to a mental health treatment facility voluntarily or Moseley would call the police.

Ellew went to treatment for a day but left, according to the complaint, and didn't believe she needed to be there. The lawsuit said Moseley took Ellew to a back room of the women's locker room and put a sign on the door instructing others to stay out.

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"Despite her pleas that she felt trapped and wanted to leave, Moseley kept Krystyna in that room for the majority of the day," the lawsuit claims. "She was given two chairs to use as a bed. Moseley threatened to call the police if she tried to leave. ... Ultimately, Krystyna returned to the facility, where Moseley proceeded to visit her every day. Moseley came so often that she drained Krystyna’s available visitor hours, preventing other visitors from seeing her."

Ellew started on mental health medication but complained about side effects. Moseley told her to keep taking them, according to the complaint, equating a consistent approach with medication with consistency on the team.

Moseley pressured Ellew and Towers into signing agreements authorizing the release of medical and mental health records to the university under threat of removal from the team if they didn't comply, the complaint said.

Towers disclosed her ADHD diagnosis when she joined the team in 2022, but Moseley punished her for her mental health incidents, according to the complaint. The lawsuit accused Moseley of bullying and insensitivity to players' disabilities.

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Moseley "made crude remarks like telling another player, who also engaged in self-harm behaviors, to stop spending time with Tessa because the two of them were competing for the most self-harm scars and egging each other on," the complaint said.

Towers brought allegations against Moseley to light when she claimed in a Jan. 25 social media post that the coach forced her to grant access to her therapy sessions, required Towers to get tested for autism against her will and made her sign a behavioral contract. Wisconsin said at the time that it was looking into the matter, but Doherty said six weeks later that the school hadn't received any formal complaints against Moseley.

Players said they reported what they considered to be abuse by Moseley to Doherty, but they claimed in the complaint that he put managing the university's brand ahead of protecting students' well-being.

The former Wisconsin athletes also said Badgers assistant coaches, trainers and medical providers "witnessed Moseley’s psychological abuse and knew about the resulting decline of the athletes' mental health."