HW litigation linked to football team

One of the big mysteries has been who allegedly posted threatening remarks against the Caplin's son.

Reader Tip: Harvard Westlake litigation articles are here in the archive.

The Caplins were kind enough not to name the alleged harassers in their civil lawsuit.

What kind of culture would breed a sense of entitlement to harass others?

* * *

[Fair Use: Research, Transformative Links, Commentary, Criticism]

HW has a reputation for being the best high school in the country.

Guardians should be prepared to pay over $20,000/year for education and litigation.

High priced education may have valuable life lessons.

* * *

[Fair Use: Research, Transformative Links, Commentary, Criticism, Information already in the public domain from public sources]

The list of summons for guardians of members on the Harvard Westlake football team is substantial.

What follows are the names from the court docket; the date the court recorded them receiving a proof of service that they or their guardians were served a summons; and their Harvard Westlake football Jersey number:

08/04/2005 BENJAMIN NEIL SOLEY, #1

08/04/2005 JAMES STEPHEN CARLEY #40.

08/04/2005: NICHOLAS PAUL FERRERO, #66.

08/04/2005 REED MICHAEL RYAN, #66

08/04/2005 JONATHAN RALPH SHAPIRO, #81


08/04/2005 Student-reporter ["sports assistant"] with the Harvard Westlake Chronicle Sports Section NICHOLAS TAYLOR ANGELICH.

To be clear, we're not suggesting that the names of these students necessarily are those who have been summoned or have done anything wrong.

We're just curious that all five names in the LA Superior Court docket tend match the names on the Wolverines' lineup; and the sixth matches a name on the HW Chronicle sports staff.

* * *

Calgary Stampeders reported in January 2004, that Offensive Line Coach Jonathan Himebauch didn't have his contract renewed.

Then Coach Himebauch showed up 22 Feb 2005 at Harvard Westlake, but they say he's from UNLV.

Is that three schools in a year: Canada, Nevada, then California; or are we talking about someone else with the same name?

[Fair Use: Research, Transformative Links, Commentary, Criticism, Non-Commercial Use]

Note the following material has been compiled from various open sources; this is not original content in this box, but a complication of various information.

Issue: A close reading of the public press releases raises several qeustions, listed below: In re dates; staff changes; experience. We provide this information for education, research, and commentary.

Ref: UNLV, 2000

Birthdate: 08/13/1975

Source: FansOnly

Re-joining the UNLV coaching staff this season to oversee the offensive line is Jonathan Himebauch. He replaces longtime assistant Rob Boras, who left for the NFL's Chicago Bears after last season.

A one-time USC co-captain, Himebauch again reunites with his college coach -- John Robinson -- after having served as a graduate assistant for the Rebels in the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

"During my career I have had just a few offensive line coaches and they have all been very successful," Robinson said at the time of the hiring. "I expect Jonathan will fit into that group nicely."

Himebauch returns to Las Vegas after coaching the offensive line last season for the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeeders. In 2002, after earning his master's from UNLV, he coached at Santa Barbara City College.

"This is a great opportunity for me and it makes it even more exciting to come back to a familiar staff," Himebauch said. "It's great to be here at UNLV again and I look forward to getting to work with this offensive line."

A former professional player, Himebauch entered the coaching profession after stints playing with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL as well as starting for the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe and being rated the league's top center in 1999 by Fox Sports.

He was in preseason training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Arizona Cardinals. In 2001, he was a center for the XFL's one and only championship team, the Los Angeles Xtreme. A Blue Chip All-American as a prepster, he went on to earn the Howard Jones Alumni Award for highest cumulative GPA in 1997 while earning his bachelor's degree in English from USC.

Himebauch, who played offensive line for the Trojans from 1994-97, was a two-year starter at center and won the 1996 Bob Chandler Award, which is given to the program's top junior student-athlete. He is married to Jessica Davis Himebauch and the couple is expecting its first child this fall.

* * *

Source: CFL Football.

Feb 19, 2003 Press Release

Jonathan Himebauch, a former offensive lineman in the CFL, NFL, NFL Europe and XFL joins the Stamp staff as Offensive Line Coach. Himebauch has two seasons of coaching experience, 2002 at Santa Barbara City College coaching the Offensive Line as well as the team's Run Game Coordinator. In 2001 he was the Offensive Graduate Assistant Coach, working with the offensive line, tight-ends and special teams at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

2005 Annoucement

Source: LA Daily News

Former UNLV offensive line coach Jonathan Himebauch has been named football coach at Harvard-Westlake of Studio City.

Himebauch, 29, played football at USC and played professionally with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Rhein Fire (NFL Europe), Toronto Argonauts (CFL) and L.A. Xtreme (XFL).

Himebauch was an assistant at UNLV under former USC coach John Robinson

"I'm excited about the opportunity to be a part of the Harvard-Westlake community," Himebauch said. "I look forward to building a program the entire student body, faculty and administration can be proud of." Feb 11 2005

Springing from the Four [4] names on LA Superior Court Docket

A. Did someone forget to mention their coaching experience in Calgary?

B. Is there something with the quick personnel changes that the Caplin litigation would find relevant?

C. Has there been some sort of disclosure that may not be complete and accurate?

* * *

Question: Did the Caplin's lawsuit trigger, inter alia

Staff changes on the Harvard Westlake football coaching staff?

This staff announcement:

Seeking applicants for assistant football coaches.
Please contact Head Coach Jonathan Himebauch
at (818) 487-5429
or email at jhimebauch@hw.com

. . . ?

Is there a problem with one of the faculty on the Harvard Westlake Defensive Team that the Board of Trustees has failed to look into?

Let's pick a random name: Defensive Coordinator Terrance Johnson, who did he replace?

If that doesn't help, Joe Kanach, associated with West Point, may be an interesting person to talk to [ Joekanach@aol.com ]. Joe worked the defensive line at Harvard Westlake, and may be able to fill in the gaps on staffing.

Then again, would it not be reasonable to assume that students who might be related to allegations of offensive conduct may be known to an offensive line coordinator?

Keep in mind, we're not saying either Jonathan Himebauch, Terrence Johnson, or Joe Kanach have done anything wrong or that they are offensive.

We're just amazed that six of the names on the LA Superior Court docket appear to be buzzing around their names.

* * *

By way of comparison, look at what Torrance does when their football players taunt the scoreboard by pointing at it: The players are suspended.

Torrance principal John O'Brien said that Hollis has always displayed, "integrity beyond belief," and that this was a student issue that required disciplinary action. He met with the team on Monday and suspended the players after an investigation.

"This is a student behavior issue," O'Brien said. "It was student-athletes making bad choices, and that means there are consequences." Ref

Shocked! A prep school actually does an investigation and holds students accountable.

Annother school had a rumbe over frito, and faced a lockdown. Is this what HW wants before it will take action?

And to think all this time HW, LAPD and DA blew off what happened to Caplins son.

* * *

Scene: Supreme Court Judge Clerkship interview, year 2015.

Justice

I see you've graduated with honors from Yale Law.

Interviewee

Yes, your honor.

Justice

And you're a Harvard Westlake graduate.

Interviewee

Yes, your honor.

Justice

Get out of my office.


* * *

Why would parents bother to hire legal counsel for someone the Caplins had not named in the suit?

Could the DOJ investigation re-open the case and expose members of a high school football team to a criminal investigation?

Are there discipline issues on the HW football team warranting "better oversight" by the board of trustees?

* * *

It is unfortunate that the legal advancement women have made in the work force hasn't been fully implemented in the classroom.

Sexual harassment and written threats of death is serious stuff. American Radio Works recently ran a series on sexual harassment in the workplace.

American corporations dragged their feet to address sexual harassment in the workplace. Women had to bring class action lawsuits were required to remedy misconduct the culture of intolerance. After the Caplin litigation is over, perhaps the real catalyst for change at "institutions of learning" must be a class action lawsuit.

It is unfortunate that the culture of abuse and apparent poor management oversight must continue, affect others, and cause more damage before a specific policy is implemented: "Thou shall not post threats of death against other students."

Some would like specific guides that prohibit specific acts. Unless those prohibited actions are specifically stated, some presume the conduct is acceptable.

Americans are sending the wrong signal: That they must be told specifically what they cannot do, otherwise they will look for new ways to be uncivil and abusive toward others.

This does not inspire world admiration.

That is, unless you're an arrogant American.