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Family of Steelers' Dwayne Haskins Jr. sues his widow in federal court

An ugly dispute between the widow of the late Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr., who was fatally struck by a dump truck in Florida in 2022, and his parents and sister, is now playing out in federal court in Pittsburgh.

Haskins’ family on Wednesday sued the Steeler’s widow, accusing her of misusing his name and image on social media and refusing to share her husband’s ashes.

The plaintiffs — Haskins’ mother and father, Tamara and Dwayne Haskins Sr., and sister, Tamia Haskins, all of Clarksburg, Md., as well as the Haskins Family Foundation — are suing Kalabrya Haskins, of Atlanta, alleging harassment.

The lawsuit claims that Kalabrya Haskins has complained about the family posting about Dwayne Jr. on Instagram, leading to the social media platform disabling their accounts.

According to the complaint, since Haskins Jr. died, the plaintiffs have “experienced constant harassment from the defendant whenever they have attempted to reference his name, image and likeness in public forums such as social media.”

In one instance, according to the complaint, Dwayne Haskins Sr.’s account was disabled because he “created ‘an account that looks like it belongs to a celebrity.’”

“This decision was made despite the fact that Dwayne Haskins Sr. simply shares the same name as his famous son, but has not otherwise posted any content on Instagram,” the complaint said.

The dispute is set against a backdrop of squabbling in Allegheny County Orphans’ Court over the quarterback’s estate, which is being administered by his widow against the wishes of his parents.

According to the federal lawsuit, the Haskins family didn’t know about the March 19, 2021, marriage between Haskins Jr. and Kalabrya Haskins, and they had never met her before the wedding.

An attorney for Kalabrya Haskins did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Thursday.

Family friction

Haskins Jr., a standout quarterback for Ohio State, was a first-round draft pick for the former Washington Redskins and played there from 2019 to 2020. He joined the Steelers in 2021.

On April 9, 2022, Haskins Jr. was trying to get gas for a rental car that stalled on Interstate 595 near Fort Lauderdale when he was struck by a dump truck and killed at age 24.

He was traveling back to Pittsburgh from training with teammates and was competing for a quarterback spot following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement.

Haskins had ketamine in his system and a blood alcohol content of at least .20%.

Angry words and accusations started flying between Haskins’ parents and widow almost immediately.

His parents alleged that during a memorial service in Maryland, Kalabrya Haskins attempted to take a personalized painting of their son that belonged to them. A security guard ordered her to put it back.

Kalabrya Haskins said, “‘I hope they are going to get a lawyer because they’re not going to get any money from us,” according to an affidavit attached to the lawsuit.

Friction persisted, spreading from problems in person to disputes online.

The family claims that Instagram disabled Haskins’ sister’s account when on May 3 — what would have been her brother’s 27th birthday — she posted his picture and a portion of a letter he wrote to his family in 2021 titled “Who I want to be.”

“Today, May 3, Dwayne would have been 27 years old. To celebrate his birthday, I wanted to create a piece to honor him. In the last year of his life, Dwayne wrote a letter titled, ‘Who I want to be’ and shared it with me. It’s an honor to share how Dwayne saw himself,” she wrote.

“Dwayne wrote, ‘So the man that I am now, he’s accountable, he’s god-fearing, he’s hard-working, he’s a competitive freak, a loving son, a goofy brother, a caring friend, and a compassionate partner.’

“The quote is how he wants to be remembered. ‘Who I want to be’ is just a small token of appreciation for the light Dwayne was not only in my life but everyone’s… . Happy Birthday, Bud; you will always be my Goofy Brother. I love you for eternity.”

The post included her favorite picture of her brother and other personal mementos.

The lawsuit alleges that the shutdown of Tamia Haskins’ Instagram account adversely affected her livelihood since clients cannot reach her or see her work. It did not say what kind of work she does.

She claims that being cut off from her Instagram account has also stopped her from being able to access the direct messages she shared with her brother over the years, exacerbating emotional distress and pain.

Cease and desist

Less than three weeks after Dwayne Haskins Jr. died, his widow’s attorney penned a cease-and-desist letter to her in-laws and their foundation.

On April 29, 2022, the lawyer asked them to stop soliciting donations without the widow’s consent, which it said is “required as the surviving spouse who maintains the legal right to his right of publicity.”

The lawsuit claims that Kalabrya Haskins is basing her demands on Pennsylvania’s Right of Publicity statute, which protects any person, living or dead, whose name or likeness has commercial value and is used for such purposes.

But Haskins’ parents and sister claim that an exception in the law allows them to use the player’s name and image if they are “associated with a news report or presentation having a public interest.”

The Haskins Family Foundation’s website says it was launched by his family a year before Dwayne Haskins Jr. died.

On its website, it lists as its mission: “providing community outreach opportunities, inspiring community leadership, and offering self-improvement and financial literacy programming.”

While the foundation is recognized by the IRS, no tax returns are available online.

Another foundation, the Dwayne Haskins Jr. Foundation, is represented by Kalabrya Haskins’ attorney.

It was registered in Pennsylvania 13 days after the Steeler’s death, state records show. No information about its IRS tax status is available online.

Mystery project

The family’s lawsuit includes 22 mysterious lines of blacked-out material.

A note asks the judge on the case to review the information privately and keep it from being seen by Kalabrya Haskins, her lawyer or the public.

The complaint tells the court that Kalabrya Haskins should be “legally prohibited from challenging, in any manner, the plaintiffs’ project.”

It does not specify what the project is. But it asks the court to bar Kalabrya Haskins from taking any action to undermine it.

In attached exhibits, the plaintiffs allege that Kalabrya Haskins continues to refuse to provide an accurate accounting of Haskins Jr’s assets and estate, and they claim that she has liquidated much of them.

It also accuses her of refusing to give the family any portion of Haskins Jr.’s ashes after she had him cremated.

Kalabrya Haskins filed a lawsuit for wrongful death against 21 defendants stemming from the accident that killed her husband. Defendants included the Florida Department of Transportation, the company that owned and operated the dump truck that struck him and the club where he had been earlier.

Several defendants have settled, according to filings in the Orphans’ Court estate case.

They included Sorrel Development, which owned the dump truck, for $500,000, Ace Rent a Car for $50,000, the Florida Transportation Department for $10,000; Drive Shack Palm Beach for $50,000; E11Even Miami for $40,000 and Blue Anchor Pub for $40,000.

The estate also settled with Progressive Specialty Insurance for underinsured motorist liability for $750,000.