Maxwell Hairston named in civil suit alleging sexual assault while at Kentucky

An alleged incident during Maxwell Hairston’s freshman year at Kentucky resurfaced in a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court on Tuesday. A former University of Kentucky student alleges that Hairston sexually assaulted her in her dorm room at UK in March 2021. Hairston, now a rookie with the Buffalo Bills, was a minor at the time.

In the suit, which was first obtained by WKBW in Buffalo, the student alleges that Hairston went to her room uninvited after she declined to hang out with him and ignored her repeated refusals to engage in sexual conduct. The student says she reported the alleged incident to law enforcement “within hours” and received a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) exam at the hospital after speaking to police. The results of that exam or a police investigation were not included in the suit. Criminal charges were never filed.

Hairston redshirted the 2021 season; in March 2022, the student posted about the alleged incident on social media. Although she did not name Hairston, she wrote that a UK Title IX hearing did not rule in her favor. UK denied an open-records request, citing student privacy laws and Hairston’s status as a minor. The student transferred from UK in 2021, alleging in the suit that “the emotional and psychological harm she sustained made it impossible for her to continue her education in the same environment where the assault occurred.”

After the Bills selected Hairston with the No. 30 pick in the NFL Draft in April, Bills general manager Brandon Beane was asked about the allegations. He said the team did a full investigation and felt more than comfortable taking Hairston, whom he called “an impeccable kid.”

“We did a lot of research. I think all teams were aware of the Title IX thing. That was fully investigated by the school. He even volunteered to do a polygraph and had notes. It was one of those where there was zero information saying that this actually happened, to what the accusation was. You can’t take someone’s account and think that’s the truth. But yes, we fully investigated that.

“If there was anything to that, he wouldn’t have been invited to the combine. He was at the draft last night. Every person you talk to at Kentucky, teammates, staff there, plus what we’ve done, I would say this is a heck of a young man, every person you ask. That’s unfortunate when things like that are attached to someone’s name; in this case, it doesn’t seem to be anything there.”

A UK spokesperson declined to comment today, but provided this statement to WKBW:

“The university is not a party to this lawsuit and therefore cannot comment on it. However, sexual assault allegations are thoroughly investigated and can involve police, Title IX, student conduct officials, and other legal entities. If and when charges are warranted, or if a student is found to have violated our Code of Student Conduct, such charges and disciplinary measures are filed and pursued aggressively to protect our students.”

Hairston suffered a minor hamstring injury during the Bills’ minicamp in June, but is expected to return for training camp later this month.