Kingfisher school board rejects $1.5 million settlement offer in football program lawsuit
Nolan ClayKINGFISHER — The Kingfisher Board of Education refused Wednesday to settle a lawsuit that alleges high school football players have been bullied, hazed and abused for years.
The board voted 5-0 to reject a $1.5 million settlement offer that expires next week.
A former player is suing Kingfisher Public Schools, head coach Jeff Myers and three other current or former coaches. His attorney offered to drop the school district only from the lawsuit for a $1.5 million payment.
Vote to reject Kingfisher football lawsuit settlement followed social media outcry, closed-door meeting
The vote at a special meeting came after board members met with their attorneys behind closed doors for more than two hours.
It also came after an outcry on social media against a settlement, particularly if coaches weren't included in it.
Did making Kingfisher football players 'tough' go too far? Abuse investigations have begun
"I DO NOT support abuse of any kind but I know if I was a coach and was getting sued I would want to know the school had my back," a school board candidate, Mitch Massey, wrote on a Facebook post.
The lawsuit is now pending in Oklahoma City federal court. The 19-year-old plaintiff is identified in the case only as John Doe No. 1. The school district and the coaches deny wrongdoing.
The OSBI investigation could result in criminal charges. The Education Department investigation could result in the school district being put on probation and coaches being banned from teaching.
The former player's attorney, Cameron Spradling, had called the settlement offer a bargain for Kingfisher Public Schools. He also said insurance would have covered the first $1 million.
In a statement after the vote, Spradling said, “We are surprised that Kingfisher has rejected our generous settlement offer. However, we are pleased that we have the opportunity to bring to the public’s attention more revelations.”
After a prayer, the school board moved the meeting from its regular location to the high school cafeteria because of the high media and public interest.
After the vote, board members either left quickly or declined comment.
Details of the lawsuit over Kingfisher High School football
The coaches are accused in the lawsuit of encouraging older players to bully the younger ones at practice and in the locker room to toughen them up.
"On multiple occasions, Offending Players fired a paintball gun at other players ... at close range within the locker room, leaving large welts on the victims," the lawsuit alleges. "The Defendant Coaches were aware that the guns were being shot in the locker room, and instead of stopping it, called the practice 'breaking in freshmen.'"
The coaches are accused of abusing players directly by forcing them to participate in dangerous drills and to engage in locker-room fights after practice.
Also, they failed to notify police of instances of sexual abuse, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiff specifically alleges a junior student sat naked on his face while four other teammates restrained him in 2018. "I was really embarrassed," he told The Oklahoman. "I didn't know what to feel. More than anything, just ashamed."
He alleges the head coach warned other players the next day not to talk about it.
The plaintiff was targeted the most because he was known as the "rich kid," according to the lawsuit. "The physical and mental abuse that was inflicted upon Plaintiff, John Doe No. 1, was done maliciously and sadistically," his attorney alleged.
The plaintiff filed the lawsuit last year after graduating. The Oklahoman is not naming him because of a policy against identifying victims of sex crimes in most instances.