Six women file lawsuits against Rover app, Temple University and a football coach they say sexually harassed them

A group of women are suing a popular dog-sitting app, as well as Temple University and one of its former assistant football coaches, saying the coach sexually harassed them and used hidden cameras to film them showering and sleeping while they watched his dog overnight — and that university employees were aware of misconduct and did not intervene.

The action comes after at least a dozen young women came forward in April on social media and accused assistant head football coach Antoine Smith, 47, of sexual misconduct and harassment. Philadelphia police opened an investigation into the matter after five women filed criminal complaints. Temple also launched an internal inquiry.

In a statement Wednesday, a Temple spokesperson said Smith was no longer employed by the university, but declined to provide details of his departure. He also declined to address the allegations set forth in the lawsuit, saying the university does not comment on personnel matters or pending litigation.

Lawyer Amanda Jonas Lorentson of McEldrew Purtell said she and her clients have heard little from university officials in the nearly two months since, and they worry that the police investigation is stagnant. To move the case forward, she said, they filed six civil complaints — three against Smith and Temple, and three against Smith and Rover, the popular gig-economy app that matches dog walkers and sitters with dog owners.

“Our goal always was to be as cooperative with the authorities as possible, and to allow the time for Temple and police to complete an investigation,” Lorentson said. “But in the interest of advocacy of our clients, we felt it was in their best interest to proceed in seeking justice in the civil courts.”

“My clients want justice, and I want justice for them,” she said. “I want this to not happen again to somebody else.”

Philadelphia police said its investigation remains active and ongoing through the Special Victims Unit.

Smith could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

A Rover spokesperson said that after “learning allegations of wrongdoing” in April 2022, the company removed Smith’s account from the platform.

”There is no place in our community for people who knowingly violate the privacy of others,” Rover said in a statement. ”We remove users who violate these guidelines as part of our commitment to protecting the people and pets on our platform,” the spokesperson said, adding that cameras in private areas are strictly against their community guidelines.

Lorentson filed the lawsuits on behalf of six women between the ages of 22 and 26. Three met Smith through Rover. The others were Temple students who worked in the athletics department with Smith, or who were introduced to him through a mutual friend. All cared for his dog, Legend, and often stayed overnight while Smith was traveling for work.

The complaints, filed Tuesday in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas, allege that Smith used Rover and his job at Temple to recruit young women, then “groomed and preyed upon” them by “watching their most private moments from high-tech cameras.”

The cameras were allegedly embedded in a wall clock, Bluetooth speaker, digital alarm clock, and AC adapter placed throughout his home, including in the bathroom and bedroom, according to the lawsuits.

In texts quoted in the suits, Smith said he would provide a clean house, plus snacks and wine for the women during their stay. He also encouraged them to sleep in his bed and use his shower, according to the complaints, and if they didn’t, Smith would ask why the next day.

“Get dinner, cheesecake, take a long hot shower, and pound a bottle of wine lol,” Smith said to one woman, the suits said.

“You can definitely use that shower I got all kinds of stuff in there,” he allegedly wrote in another text quoted in the lawsuits.

One woman said she found a camera hidden in an AC adapter plugged into the bathroom, in April 2022. She unplugged it and took a photograph, the suits said.

Almost immediately, the suits said, Smith texted her, saying he was coming home early and that she no longer needed to stay overnight. According to the complaints, the woman told him she found a camera in the alarm clock and it made her uncomfortable.

Smith, the suits said, told her what she found was a Bluetooth for his CD player, not a camera.

The woman left and filed a police report and complaint with Rover, according to the lawsuits. Smith was not charged with any crimes.

The complaints allege that at least two Temple athletics staffers were aware that young women were dogsitting for Smith, and were concerned that he was leveraging his position to recruit them and promise them career advancement.

Smith was known in the sports department for his “boorish behavior and crude comments about young women,” the complaints said.

An undergraduate student also reported Smith to the Title IX office sometime before September 2022, the lawsuits said, though it’s unclear whether she filed a formal complaint.

The lawsuits allege that Rover did not adequately respond to multiple complaints filed against Smith’s account. They also pointed to broader issues in company policy, like allowing Rover users to communicate outside of the app and create multiple accounts, which it said enabled Smith’s behavior and has made other women using the app feel unsafe. And they say Rover is “aware that hidden camera use is rampant” across the platform, but that it hasn’t taken action to address it.

The women said they’ve experienced anxiety, stress, nightmares, and panic in the aftermath, and are seeking punitive damages.

Lorentson said she expects to file at least two more suits in Colorado by the end of the month, on behalf of women who say they were sexually harassed by Smith during his time at Colorado State University, where he coached for two years before joining Temple in January 2022.