In a legal complaint filed on Oct. 15, Byron “Bart” Thompson, former head coach of the men’s rowing team, alleges that USD wrongfully terminated his contract and discriminated against him based on his Catholic faith.
USD sanctioned an investigation into Thompson’s behavior that involved anonymous participants that testified their experiences; the complaint named them as DOES 1-25. The complaint names USD, Kimya Massey and DOES 1-25 as defendants.
“The university hired a new Athletic Director, Defendant Kimya Massey, who almost immediately expressed hostility towards Plaintiff’s expression of his Catholic faith and his values driven approach to mentoring student athletes,” the complaint reads. “Defendant Kimya Massey’s hostility towards Plaintiff and his faith resulted in an orchestrated campaign to oust Plaintiff from his position.”
Massey declined to comment.
The complaint says that Massey suggested to alumni that Thompson altered medical records and failed to report sexual assault. A student submitted their personal statement for Thompson to review prior to applying to USD; in said statement, the student described overcoming childhood sexual assault. The pleading states that Thompson was not obligated to report the sexual assault because the event occurred before the student was associated with USD.
“Title IX clearly does not apply to that situation and proving the point, on information and belief, once Defendants received that student’s personal statement, they did not start a Title IX investigation,” the complaint reads.
The complaint also alleges that Massey suggested to alumni that Thompson committed HIPAA-related wrongdoings. HIPAA is a federal law, passed in 1996, that stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The law prevents health information from being shared without patient consent.
Thompson’s complaint doesn’t provide further detail about the alleged HIPAA violations.
University officials have not confirmed why Thompson was fired; however, USD denies all allegations named in the lawsuit.
“We strongly deny Mr. Thompson’s allegations and will allow the process to run its course,” a USD spokesperson wrote. “We are confident that the facts clearly support the action taken.”
Among other allegations, Thompson is suing USD and Massey for religious discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation and emotional distress. He is asking for over $35,000. Amir Azimzadeh, Eric Carrino and Jacob Spaid are the plaintiff’s attorneys.
Thompson began his tenure at USD in fall 2021, after coaching at Adrian College for four years. About a month and a half before Thompson was fired, USD Magazine wrote a profile about his coaching style. The article highlights the prayer circles that Thompson hosted after the rowers’ four-hour Saturday morning practices, a large point of contention in the lawsuit.
“Rather than simply focusing on technique and fitness, he built his program around holistic development,” USD Magazine wrote. “Thompson’s approach centers on 10 core team values, discussed during Saturday practices: accountability, coachability, discipline, drive, enthusiasm, excellence, gratitude, grit, integrity and selflessness.”
After USD terminated his position in January 2026, Thompson emailed an 8-minute goodbye video to 45 of his athletes. On Nov. 3, men’s rowing alum Santiago Gomez forwarded the tape to The USD Vista.
“If you are like me… when you hear someone has been put on unexpected administrative leave, you assume the worst: sexual assault, substance abuse, a misappropriation of funds,” Thompson said in the video. “As someone who has built the program on the premise of character, I want to make clear that no such act occurred.”
Student reactions
In both the legal complaint and the USD Magazine profile, the prayer meetings were described as fully optional; Gomez disagrees.
“Those [prayer meetings] were not optional,” Gomez said. Raised as a Catholic himself, Gomez transferred to USD in 2024 after rowing at Loyola Marymount University. “There wasn’t really any way to get out of the prayer circle. He was trying to embed a Catholic-family values system into the team which was very overstepping.”
USD alum Vivien Goretic was captain of the women’s rowing team for two years and graduated this spring; she recalled being confused about the prayer circles that the men’s team hosted.
“I’m not surprised about the lawsuit,” Goretic said. “He talked really well. You always felt like he knew you, it was always a pleasant interaction, sometimes to an eerie extent … Religion was never a part of [the women’s rowing team’s] conversation, so the fact that it was so heavily part of their conversation stood out to us.”
Not all athletes prefer to keep religion separate from their sport; USD senior Caden Leonard played football his sophomore and junior years and recalled saying the Our Father prayer with his team before every game. USD football offers optional Bible studies, player-led or coach-led.
“I feel like having faith involved in sports should be somewhat expected at a Catholic institution,” Leonard said. “If it was to the same extent to what the football team is doing… I never thought it was too much. At the end of the day it’s a Catholic university.”
The lawsuit argues that Thompson’s actions were in compliance with USD’s athletic mission statement, a mission statement that changed during Thompson’s tenure. According to Copley Archives, when Thompson was hired in 2021 the mission statement included a mention of the Catholic identity, however, during his tenure Massey reformed the statement to remove a direct mention of Catholicism.
Massey was appointed as athletic director in 2024 after working at Oregon State University as the deputy athletic director for three years.
USD junior and women’s swim and dive member Mallory Paine comes from a Lutheran religious background but attends Catholic Mass on Sundays. After attending an annual athletic event that acknowledges USD’s Catholic identity, The Blessing of the Torero, Paine reflected on Massey’s character.
“Kimya speaks at that every year and he’s always been, in my opinion, really welcoming about the Catholic faith,” Paine said.
Looking forward
In the goodbye video, before filing the lawsuit, Thompson outlined his outlook on the future for him and his wife.
“Above all, we know that the Lord will be with us on this path, no matter what comes next,” Thompson said. “And we put our faith and our trust in His goodness.”
On Oct. 3, The USD Vista reached out to dozens of members of the men’s rowing team; as of Nov. 10, The USD Vista has not received a comment.
There is limited public information about certain allegations listed in the initial complaint. A certain Dec. 5 incident revolving around inappropriate language is offhandedly mentioned without elaboration. The reason why Thompson was fired is protected under Employment Law; however, the alleged HIPAA violations and Thompson’s accused failure to report sexual assault are briefly described.
More information may be released when USD files a response, an action legally required 30 days after the original complaint filing: in this case, no later than this Saturday, Nov. 14.
EDITOR’S NOTE: To view the legal complaint or Thompson’s USD Magazine profile, select the links attached to this article on our website at theusdvista.com.
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