Michigan State University has settled a federal lawsuit in which a strength coach alleged "discriminatory treatment" by the university.
As reported by the Lansing State Journal, Mike Vorkapich, who was 52 years old in August when he filed his complaint, claimed the university emphasized diversity over merit when making hires and promotions inside the athletic department. The filing named the university, athletic director Alan Haller and deputy athletic director Ashton Henderson as defendants.
Court records filed on Monday related to the settlement did not detail the terms, according to Matt Mencarini of the State Journal..
Scot Hinshaw, Vorkapich's Ohio-based attorney, did not return messages seeking comment, Mencarini reported.
University spokesperson Mark Bullion declined to disclose the terms of the settlement.
According to Mencarini, Vorkapich still works at MSU and is listed on the school's website as the director of athletic performance/sports science for the MSU hockey team, a position he was promoted to in 2020. He played football for the Spartans and started as a graduate assistant in 1995.
The lawsuit claimed that Vorkapich was twice demoted and excluded from meetings while "younger, less-qualified, female, black, and non-disabled individuals" were promoted.
Vorkapich is white and, according to his lawsuit, has Tourette Syndrome. Both Haller and Henderson are Black.
After one demotion last year, Vorkapich claimed in the lawsuit that he was given the choice of demotion or to leave the university two months before he would vest into his university retirement benefits, Mencarini reported. The lawsuit sought his reinstatement to a previous position or a higher position that he would now hold if he had not been previously demoted. He also asked a judge to award back pay for wages lost or, if he was not reinstated, that the university pay him for wages he'd receive through his chosen retirement age of 67.
