Mount Carmel (Pa.) Area School District will pay $110,000 to Michael Reed, the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit over a September 2020 hazing incident involving other members of the high school football team, according to a settlement agreement.
As reported by The News-Item of Shamokin, the district’s insurer will issue the payment within 30 days of the Oct. 18 filing in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
According to Mackenzie Witt of The News-Item, the agreement is not an admission by the district or its directors, administrators or other associated parties of any liability of wrongdoing.
Other key provisions of the settlement agreement, obtained by The News-Item:
- Both parties have agreed to resolve all disputes and actions related to the lawsuit and avoid the burden, disruption, expense, delay and uncertainties of litigation, according to the agreement acquired by The News-Item.
- In accepting the agreement, Reed waived his right to any claim for damages and other equitable relief against the school district that he may have under Title IX, or otherwise, relating to the lawsuit.
- Reed also releases the district from any claim or demand, administrative or judicial, that were or could have been asserted in the lawsuit, which may include claims for damages, fees or relief under Title IX or otherwise.
“As stated from the onset of this case, the district had no knowledge of these hazing incidents involving our football program, which occurred off school grounds, prior to the fall of 2020,” Mount Carmel Area School District superintendent Pete Cheddar said in the statement posted to social media Monday.
The statement outlines multiple safeguards instituted since the district became aware of the allegations. These include reviewing and revising the hazing board policy; updating the athlete and student handbooks to include anti-hazing expectations; an annual anti-hazing course to be completed by all student-athletes involved in extracurriculars; a hazing course to be completed by all coaches, teachers and extracurricular staff; inviting speakers to review bullying, threats, social media and hazing awareness, and incorporating leadership activities and curricular lessons during school, after school and summer activities.
“Fostering a positive environment for our students both on and off campus is of the utmost importance to our school district, as well as having zero tolerance for any time of hazing within our district,” Cheddar wrote in the statement.
Reed had sought compensatory, punitive and emotional distress damages from the district under Title IX and negligence under state law. U.S. Chief Judge Matthew Brann dismissed most claims against the district, but left open the possibility of compensatory damages available under Title IX, Witt reported.
According to court documents, Reed was 17 when hazing incidents occurred at the home of a team captain on Sept. 23 and 30, 2020.
Related: Former High School Football Players Sentenced in 2020 Hazing Incident
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office found that some members of the team intentionally burned new starting players with lit burning sticks and sparklers as part of an informal initiation while they gathered to watch game footage.
According to the suit, Reed was left with permanent physical scarring and suffered from emotional and mental anguish and pain.
Per Witt's reporting, allegations of hazing were revealed by the Mount Carmel Area School District on Oct. 9, 2020, when it canceled the team’s game with Warrior Run. Four days later, it canceled the remainder of the season.
