Woman Sues Ex-Coach: Hacking Scandal Rocks Cuyahoga County

Cleveland, Ohio – A previous Malone University swimmer filed a lawsuit against the university and ex-University of Michigan assistant football coach Matt Weiss on Thursday. Authorities claim Weiss broke into approximately 3,000 student accounts with the intent to steal explicit images and videos.

The swimmer, who resides in Cuyahoga County, remains unnamed in the lawsuit submitted to the federal court in Cleveland.

According to the lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Justice reached out to her following the discovery by FBI agents that Weiss had obtained photos from female college athletes nationwide through an extensive eight-year effort involving access to their information.

According to the lawsuit, she "experienced feelings of being violated, deep disturbance, humiliation, embarrassment, and severe emotional distress; and is undergoing physical symptoms due to the stress and anxiety stemming from this outrageous invasion of her privacy."

Weiss faces charges in federal court in Detroit for allegedly accessing computers without authorization and committing aggravated identity theft, totaling 24 counts. He has entered a plea of not guilty.

The prosecutors alleged that he utilized a computer software meant for trainers and athletic directors to obtain private medical data, email addresses, and passwords belonging to approximately 150,000 female college athletes.

According to federal prosecutors, he utilized the data to gain unauthorized access to students' individual email and cloud storage accounts.

According to prosecutors, he managed to access approximately 3,300 student accounts across 100 different universities.

Many women have filed lawsuits against Weiss, the University of Michigan, and various institutions such as Malone and the University of Chicago Loyola.

A lawsuit filed by a woman from Cuyahoga County lists Keffer Development Services as one of the defendants. This company developed the database that allowed Weiss to first obtain access to the private details of these women.

The lawsuit charges Malone and Keffer with neglect and not protecting the students' data.

Weiss is also a defendant in the lawsuit.

Cleveland.com The Plain Dealer sought comments from officials at Malone University, Keffer Development Services, and an attorney who represents the company in a separate lawsuit. Court documents show that no lawyers are listed as representatives for Weiss in any of these civil cases.

The female swimmer from Cuyahoga County competed for Malone University, a private Christian college in Canton, during those years. According to the legal complaint, when she sought care from athletic trainers, she had to utilize Keffer’s method.

On March 31, the Justice Department informed the woman that she might be a victim in this case; however, it has not determined precisely which data was taken, as stated in the lawsuit.

From 2009 to 2020, Weiss served as a coach for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, followed by his tenure at the University of Michigan from 2021 to 2023. He held the position of co-offensive coordinator at Michigan until he was dismissed in 2023 amid an ongoing FBI probe.

Adam Ferrise reports on federal courts for cleveland.com And The Plain Dealer. His work can be found here. here .

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