Former Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach Sues BC for Gender Discrimination and Wage Violations

Former Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach Karen McNamara is suing Boston College and Women’s Tennis Coach Nigel Bentley for gender discrimination through a hostile work environment and violations of the Wage Act after BC fired her in May 2023. 

In the suit, filed May 30, 2024, McNamara, BC ’87 and LGSOE ’94, alleges that BC fired her in retaliation for her complaints about Bentley. 

“Despite Ms. McNamara’s repeated complaints to BC officials and administrators, BC failed to remedy the situation,” the complaint reads. “Instead, Ms. McNamara was unlawfully terminated in retaliation.” 

In a statement to The Heights, University Spokesman Jack Dunn said the University denies McNamara’s claims.

“Boston College denies the baseless allegations raised against the University and Coach Bentley, and intends to vigorously defend against these allegations in court,” Dunn wrote. 

In its defense, filed June 24, BC claimed McNamara did not meet the “reasonable performance expectations” of her position. 

Bentley did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

Allegations of a “Hostile Work Environment”

McNamara’s lawsuit alleges that Bentley “began subjecting her to a hostile work environment shortly after she joined the program.” 

The suit alleges that Bentley bullied and alienated McNamara because he perceived her as a threat to his job.

“Upon information and belief, Coach Bentley was threatened by Ms. McNamara’s tennis pedigree and her family’s ties to BC,” the lawsuit reads. “He perceived Ms. McNamara, an accomplished and confident professional woman, as a threat to his position.”  

The suit claims that Bentley often excluded her from coaching decisions, team emails, and texts. McNamara also claims that Bentley rarely introduced her to other coaches at games, and “had to be pressed to include Ms. McNamara’s name on BC’s website,” the docket reads. 

McNamara alleges that his behavior became hostile after she sought help from BC officials.

“After a miscommunication about the venue of a game, Coach Bentley yelled at Ms. McNamara in front of numerous fans and players and refused to let her coach, instructing her to leave the tennis courts and assigning players to take over her coaching duties,” the suit reads. 

The lawsuit also states that Bentley’s behavior toward the players on the team was a concern to McNamara. 

“Coach Bentley played favorites amongst the players and often bullied and/or psychologically shamed those players who were not in his favor, subjecting them to ridicule in front of their teammates and coaches,” the lawsuit reads. “He also yelled at players to get counseling for mental or nutritional help, then made it clear that he did not have great tolerance for those needing such services.” 

McNamara alleges that on several occasions, Bentley texted and drove while operating the team van, and that when she told Athletics Director Blake James and HR about these incidents, she was ignored. BC denies her allegation. 

The lawsuit also alleges that McNamara felt uncomfortable being alone with Bentley.

“Coach Bentley would sit directly behind and very close to Ms. McNamara’s desk in an intimidating manner,” the lawsuit reads. “He would also often speak to her with one foot up on his chair while in shorts, risking exposing himself.” 

This behavior led McNamara to reach out to human resources, where she was instructed to set up a meeting with now-Associate Athletics Director Jim O’Neill and Bentley in Nov. 2022. But no meeting was ever scheduled, according to lawsuit. 

McNamara’s complaint to human resources led Bentley to punish her with more work, she alleges, forcing her to exceed the 10 to 19 hours a week that her job description detailed. 

“After Ms. McNamara requested a sit-down meeting with Mr. O’Neill and Coach Bentley to clarify roles and expectations, Coach Bentley refused the meeting and instead emailed Ms. McNamara a long list of new job responsibilities,” the lawsuit reads. 

BC denies any allegation that “Mr. O’Neill and Coach Bentley did not make themselves available.” 

Unpaid Hours

In Jan. 2023, McNamara met alone with O’Neill to discuss her concerns regarding Bentley. During that meeting, the lawsuit claims O’Neill told McNamara that BC expects its part-time coaches to work full-time. 

In its defense, BC claims O’Neill said the assistant coach must work full-time hours during certain parts of the year.

O’Neill did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit claims that McNamara often worked more than 19 hours per week, and “when BC unlawfully terminated her, Ms. McNamara worked over 300 extra hours,” the docket reads.  

McNamara also worked nearly 70 unpaid hours from Sept. 14, 2022 to Sept. 26, 2022—her official start date—because Bentley asked her to start two weeks early, according to the lawsuit.

By Jan. 2023, McNamara’s relationship with Bentley did not improve. The lawsuit claims that in the same January meeting with O’Neill, he “acknowledged that [Bentley] often yelled at McNamara frequently and was verbally abusive towards her.” BC denies this allegation. 

BC claims the strained relationship was due to McNamara’s poor work performance. 

“[McNamara’s] relationship with Coach Bentley had not improved, which resulted from her poor job performance, refusal to engage productively with Coach Bentley, inappropriate conduct toward Coach Bentley and the athletes, and other deficiencies on her part,” the defense reads. 

School Vacation Violations

The lawsuit also claims that McNamara became aware that Bentley invited an international student on the team to stay at his house over Thanksgiving break, which would violate the NCAA Division I Regulations. McNamara reported the incident to BC in Jan. 2023, the suit states.

BC’s defense confirmed that Bentley invited the player “who was unable to return home for the Thanksgiving break, to join him and his family for Thanksgiving.”

McNamara met with BC’s Senior Associate Athletic Director of Internal Operations in Feb. 2023 where she raised concerns over the Thanksgiving incident and Bentley’s continued hostile behavior, according to the suit. 

McNamara’s report was referred to BC’s Athletic Compliance Department for an investigation following her conversation. The suit claims that McNamara was never informed of the outcome to her report. 

The lawsuit also alleges that Bentley informed the student of the complaint, hurting McNamara’s reputation with the team. McNamara alleges that Bentley informed the student of the complaint. 

BC denies this allegation and claims McNamara had subpar relations with the team long prior to the complaint. 

“[McNamara] long had a poor reputation among, and poor relationships with, the players on the team,” the docket reads. 

According to BC, the then-associate athletic director informed the student following an investigation into the incident. 

After word spread of her complaint, McNamara alleges that she overheard Bentley tell a student that he was trying to “get rid” of her. BC denies this allegation. 

In Feb. 2023, O’Neill facilitated a meeting with McNamara and Bentley. The suit alleges that the meeting did not address the hostile environment and that Bentley 

“Coach Bentley became enraged and stormed out of the meeting, calling Ms. McNamara ‘useless’ and stating he would not be making any changes to his behavior,” the lawsuit reads. 

In March 2023, McNamara alleges that she found out about Bentley inviting a player to his house for Easter, and that he offered the player use of his car. The suit states that McNamara brought her concern directly to James. After McNamara’s meeting with James, the suit claims Bentley then invited the whole team to his house.

BC claims that Bentley had invited anyone without plans for the holiday to join him and his family. 

“There was some discussion of allowing players to use his vehicle, but after consulting with compliance personnel about the possibility, it was decided that players would need to arrange their own transportation,” the docket reads. 

The lawsuit alleges that BC did not take McNamara’s complaints seriously and, instead, advised Bentley how to avoid any violations of NCAA regulations. BC denies this allegation. 

An Unexplained Termination

McNamara alleges she sent multiple unanswered emails to James in the spring of 2023, seeking a followup meeting to further address her concerns.

On May 16, McNamara received an invitation to meet with James, the deputy athletic director, and the vice president of human resources on May 18.

At that meeting, McNamara was terminated, effective immediately—four days before her daughter was set to graduate from BC, the suit notes. 

When McNamara asked why she was being terminated, the VP of human resources allegedly told her that they were not required to give her a reason and were “using their discretion.”

Christopher O’Hara, one of McNamara’s attorneys, said McNamara did not believe Bentley’s behavior aligned with BC’s mission. 

“She looks forward for the opportunity to present her claims in court,” O’Hara said.