Texas agrees to settle amount in discrimination case
By admin - 2018-12-19 05:06:56

The University of Texas has agreed to pay former track coach Bev Kearney $600,000 to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit she filed in 2014, ABC News reports. Kearney will receive about $277,450, with the rest going to her attorneys.

Kearney, who is black, argued that she was fired in 2013 after school officials learned of a romantic relationship she had with one of her student/athletes ten years earlier. Kearney also claimed that because of her race she was treated differently than a white male football coach who also had a romantic relationship with one of his subordinates.

Former Texas assistant football coach Major Applewhite was reprimanded, but not fired, for a relationship with a female student trainer on a 2009 bowl trip. Applewhite was later promoted and given pay raises. He stayed on the Texas staff until head coach Mack Brown was forced out after the 2013 season.

Kearney and the university agreed to settle her nearly five-year-old lawsuit in June. The terms of the settlement were released following public-records requests from a number of media outlets. The settlement stipulates the money will be paid by the Texas athletic department. It also requires the two sides to make no comment beyond acknowledging the settlement was reached.

Kearney’s original lawsuit reortedly sought at least $1 million n damages, and financial records showed the university had spent more than $500,000 defending the case.