Lawsuit alleges UVM protected NBA player Anthony Lamb from rape allegations

Ella Ruehsen, Editor-in-Chief|December 10, 2022

Anthony+Lamb+20+reaches+for+the+ball+at+a+home+game+against+University+of+Maine+Feb.+5%2C+2020.+Lamb%2C+who+signed+with+an+NBA+team+this+fall%2C+has+been+accused+of+raping+a+fellow+student-athlete+while+at+UVM%2C+according+to+a+recently+filed+lawsuit+against+the+University.+

MICHAELA REARDON/The Vermont Cynic

Anthony Lamb ’20 reaches for the ball at a home game against University of Maine Feb. 5, 2020. Lamb, who signed with an NBA team this fall, has been accused of raping a fellow student-athlete while at UVM, according to a recently filed lawsuit against the University.

Editor’s note: The headline of this story was updated Dec. 12 at 11:50 a.m. to more accurately reflect Lamb’s NBA status.

NBA player and former UVM basketball star Anthony Lamb ‘20 has come under fire for allegedly raping a fellow student-athlete while they were both undergraduate students at UVM in 2019, according to Dec. 7 reporting from Seven Days. 

The allegations have come to light publicly by way of a federal lawsuit accusing UVM officials of mishandling reports of sexual assault and interfering with due process, according to Seven Days. The suit was filed this week in U.S. District Court in Burlington. 

The lawsuit claims athletic director Jeff Schulman and other University employees misinformed the complainant about the possible outcomes of her options, persuading her against filing a formal complaint through Title IX procedures, according to Seven Days. 

The lawsuit names Schulman, among other UVM officials, as well as the University and its board of trustees, as defendants, according to recent reports from VTDigger.  

In recent years, UVM students have organized several protests and other advocacy measures over a perceived systemic administrative mishandling of sexual violence at the University, with a large portion of the collective outrage directed at UVM athletics in particular. 

The student-led activism prompted the University to agree to a set of demands, including an external review of practices at UVM’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity—the results of which were released by UVM President Suresh Garimella Oct. 25, 2021. 

Lamb’s NBA team, the Golden State Warriors, does not intend to take any immediate action in light of the suit because Lamb is not a defendant and was never charged with wrongdoing in a legal case, according to a statement the Warriors issued to SFGATE Dec. 8. 

The Warriors was aware that Lamb had been accused of sexual assault when they signed him in October, according to an Oct. 16 article from NBC. 

Since initial reports of the recent suit broke from local Vermont-based news outlets, the story has been covered by various media groups, including the Atlantic, ESPN, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, ABC, NBC, CBS and more.