A discrimination lawsuit against the Wilson Area School District paid out a $50,000 settlement to former head football coach Llyod Brooks. Brooks filed the lawsuit last year, claiming he was fired from his position because he’s Black.
According to Lehigh Valley Live, the settlement stipulates that the school district does not admit to any liability in the case.
Wilson Area School District solicitor, John E. Freund III said, “No wrongdoing should be inferred from the offer and the district admits no wrongdoing.”
When Brooks filed the lawsuit, he claimed that he would have been treated differently by the school district had he been white. Brooks, who would have been the high school’s first Black coach, was a volunteer for the non-profit Communities in Schools, where he was investigated for taking a child off-campus for a lunch at McDonald’s. Brooks was ultimately not reported to the Lehigh County Office of Children, Youth and Families after that investigation, but he did self-report the matter to the Wilson Area School District athletic director. At that time, the school district did report Brooks and fired him.
“The school district filed a response saying it handled the matter appropriately and did not discriminate against Brooks.”
Brooks’ own football career saw him play at Lock Haven University and go on to compete semiprofessionally for 13 years in both arena and outdoor football. He had previously coached at Allentown Central Catholic, Notre Dame and Catasauqua.
Wilson Area High School later hired Jim Brady to replace Brooks, a coach with more than a decade of experience and who was an assistant under the previous head coach.
