(Reuters) - Peyton Manning's reputation as the National Football League's most bankable player took a hit when he was among 10 athletes cited in a lawsuit filed by six former female students against the University of Tennessee.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday and first reported by The Tennessean, claims that the university violated Title IX regulations and created a "hostile sexual environment" through a policy of indifference toward assaults by student-athletes.
Title IX is a federal statute that bans discrimination along gender lines at schools that receive federal funding.
The suit cited nearly a dozen instances dating back to the mid-1990s of former student athletes accused of sexual assault, including star quarterback Manning who won his second Super Bowl title earlier this month, with the Denver Broncos.