1 week, 6 days ago by Scott Hardy
Brian Holzgrafe awarded $2.9 million by jury after Daniel Lozier was found liable for defamation
The former tennis coach at Quincy University, named in a $10 million dollar Federal civil suit by a former Quincy University student and member of the men's tennis team, has won a multi-million dollar judgement against the student in a counter-suit, after a jury found that the student was liable for defamation against the coach.
Court records show that on Thursday, after deliberating for two hours, a jury in U.S. District Court in Springfield awarded Brian Holzgrafe $2.9 million in damages, including $874,000 in punitive damages. That's after the former student, Daniel Lozier, was found liable last October. Holzgrafe's attorney Lance T. Jones said that in April 2017, while Lozier was interviewed by QU's Title IX administrator over allegations about an affair, the investigation into Holzgrafe was sparked by comments Lozier made to his mother that were found to be defamatory. Jones also said that while Lozier accused Holzgrafe of leaking details about the Title IX interview, it was comments that Lozier made to his girlfriend which led to knowledge about Lozier's interview coming to light. Those comments were also found to be defamatory. Lozier had first filed the suit in April 2018.
Holzgrafe has always denied the charges.
