$4M settlement approved in Iowa football lawsuit

An Iowa state appeals board has approved a settlement for more than $4 million in a lawsuit brought by former Iowa football players who alleged racial discrimination in coach Kirk Ferentz’s program.

The office of State Auditor Rob Sand disclosed the proposal Monday, and he said he would oppose using taxpayer money to pay a portion of the settlement unless university athletic director Gary Barta is fired.

“Enough is enough. Clear personal accountability is necessary. I will not support taxpayers funding this settlement unless Gary Barta is no longer employed at the University and forfeits any severance or similar pay,” Sand asserted in a letter to the Iowa State Appeal Board. “I encourage you to join me. Real accountability will help prevent discrimination, protecting both taxpayers and future victims.”

But the three-member State Appeal Board voted 2-1 to approve the use of $2 million in state money for a settlement. Sand is a member of the board along with state Treasurer Roby Smith and Department of Management director Kraig Paulsen.

Paulsen, before voting yes, said it’s not up to the board to play a role in Barta’s employment status.

“We’re here to make a decision as to what’s in the best interest of Iowa, and it seems to me, upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, this is the wise decision to make,” Paulsen said, according to Des Moines television station KCCI.

A message was left for Tulsa-based attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, who brought the lawsuit on behalf of about a dozen Black former players in 2020.

In a response to a request for comment from Barta, the athletic department put out a statement attributed to him: “The Athletic Department remains committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for every student-athlete and staff member involved in our program. The Hawkeyes over-arching goal to win every time we compete, graduate every student-athlete that comes to Iowa, and to do it right, remains our focus.”

Kirk Ferentz said in a statement he is “greatly disappointed” by how the matter was resolved. He said negotiations took place between the plaintiffs’ attorney and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which represents the university and the state board of regents.

“These discussions took place entirely without the knowledge or consent of the coaches who were named in the lawsuit,” Ferentz said. “In fact, the parties originally named disagree with the decision to settle, fully believing that the case would have been dismissed with prejudice before trial.”

Ferentz added that “as part of the settlement, the coaches named were dismissed from the lawsuit and there is no admission of any wrongdoing.”

Sand told ESPN on Monday that another appeal board member thought paying the settlement was the prudent approach to avoiding trial. The other member said the board isn’t designed to address employment situations, and that the settlement needed to be paid by law.

“That’s just simply not true,” Sand said. “The previous three settlements that they had were paid entirely by the athletic department, not at all by the state, and half of this one was paid by the athletic department. So the idea that we’re just required to be a rubber stamp to me is absurd.”

Sand said he reached out to Barta on Friday in advance of calling for his dismissal, and they had a “cordial” conversation.

“This doesn’t mean that Gary Barta hasn’t worked hard at his job,” Sand said. “At the end of the day, when you’ve had four settlements related to discrimination, you’ve got to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ He’s still a human being. That’s why I wanted to make that phone call. It wasn’t something that I took lightly.”

Barta has been Iowa’s athletic director since 2006. In a statement to the appeal board, Sand noted those four discrimination cases totaling nearly $7 million in damages under Barta’s watch. The largest of those was $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit in 2017 over the firing of former field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum. The money used to pay that settlement came from the athletic department, which does not rely on taxpayer funding.

“I can’t imagine a private company that would still have someone at the helm after four discrimination lawsuits under that person’s leadership,” Sand said at an earlier news conference. “So to me there has to be additional accountability there. The athletic department, they’ve got the funds for it. The broadcast deal brings tens of millions of dollars every year going forward. I don’t know why they can’t cover their own mistakes and pay for their own mistakes instead of having taxpayers do it.”

Barta, Ferentz, his son and offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz, and former strength coach Chris Doyle were dismissed from the lawsuit last week, which was considered a sign that a proposed settlement was imminent.

According to the proposed settlement, some $2.85 million would be divided among 12 players and $1.9 million would go to Solomon-Simmons Law for fees and expenses. One player was not included in the settlement for reasons not immediately known.

In addition, the university would direct $90,000 to support graduate or professional school tuition for the plaintiffs, with no individual receiving more than $20,000, and provide mental health counseling for the plaintiffs through March 15, 2024. The athletic department also is required to hire University of Texas Black studies professor Leonard Moore to oversee a five-year diversity, equity and inclusion plan.

The lawsuit filed in November 2020 involved 13 Black former players including former star running back Akrum Wadley and career receptions leader Kevonte Martin-Manley. They alleged they were demeaned with racial slurs, forced to abandon Black hairstyles, fashion and culture to fit the “Iowa Way” promoted by Kirk Ferentz, and retaliated against for speaking out.

The players initially sought $20 million in damages plus the firings of Barta and the Ferentzes.

Doyle agreed to leave Iowa five months before the lawsuit was filed after widespread accusations that the longtime strength coach used his position to bully and disparage former players, particularly those who are Black. Iowa agreed to pay Doyle $1.1 million in a resignation agreement.

In 2020, before the lawsuit, the university hired the Husch Blackwell law firm to review the program after dozens of former players, most of them Black, spoke out on social media to allege racial disparities and mistreatment. Their activism came as protests against racial injustice swept the nation after the death of George Floyd and after attempts to raise concerns inside the program resulted in only minor changes.

The law firm’s report said some of the football program’s rules “perpetuated racial or cultural biases and diminished the value of cultural diversity.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.