Board to vote on discrimination deal
Settlement may come soon in case against coach who was AD.
BEAVERCREEK — The Beavercreek City Schools Board of Education could soon approve a settlement for a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by a female employee against a male employee and the board.
Greene County Common Pleas Court records show Ruth A. Wiley reached a settlement Feb. 14 against the Beavercreek Board of Education and former Athletic Director Ed Zink, the school’s longtime girls basketball coach, over a job dispute.
“Through the court-ordered mediation, the parties reached a proposed resolution,” attorney Beverly A. Meyer said on behalf of the school board. “Until we get board approval on that, nothing is final.”
Meyer said the terms of the resolution wouldn’t be released until the board voted on the proposal. Court documents indicate the case will be dismissed April 17.
School board President Al Nels said it was his understanding that the school district would not be funding any portion of the settlement but that insurance would pay for it.
Zink said Monday that his attorney, Steven J. Freeze, advised him not to comment.
Freeze did not return a message seeking comment. Wiley’s lawyer, John R. Folkerth Jr., also did not return a message seeking comment.
The civil suit was filed in 2009 by Wiley, the district’s literacy specialist and a former part-time assistant cross country coach. Wiley claimed she was discriminated against by Zink when he was the athletic director. Zink resigned from the job in May 2011 after seven years.
In the complaint, Wiley contends she had a good working relationship with former cross country coach Jack Holliday and ex-athletic director Denton Brower. Wiley worked as a part-time assistant varsity cross country coach and had “successful” performance evaluations, according to the lawsuit.
When Holliday retired as a teacher, Zink offered Wiley the head cross county coaching job. But Holliday was interested in continuing as the head coach and Wiley did not object.
When Holliday retired from coaching in 2008, Zink hired current coach Howard Russ instead of Wiley. Wiley said in her role as an assistant coach to Russ that she was treated with hostility and asked to resign later that school year.
Wiley contends she complained to Zink about Russ’ behavior but that Zink did not take corrective action. Wiley filed a charge of sex discrimination and retaliation with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which did not find probable cause of unlawful discrimination.
Wiley also alleges Zink fabricated performance evaluations from 2005 to 2009, when she was fired as an assistant coach. The suit seeks lost wages and retirement contributions plus punitive damages and attorney fees.
“I’m not so sure that I did a fair job with both of them,” Zink told the Dayton Daily News in May 2011 about being both a coach and an AD.
“The coaching took up a lot of time, but so did (being AD).”
In his answer to the lawsuit and in subsequent filings, Zink said Russ was much more qualified than Wiley and that Russ showed more passion during the interview process. He denied most of the allegations.
Zink also said that he “does not have any ill will toward her” and that her not getting the top job had “nothing to do with the fact that she’s a woman.”
Zink, Beavercreek High School Principal Marian West and then-superintendent Dennis Morrison all recommended hiring Russ after the interview process.
Wiley had received letters of recommendation from now-superintendent Nick Verhoff (who was the Shaw Elementary Principal) and former coach Holliday.
In a Feb. 10 filing, the school board’s legal team pointed out that Wiley said it would be “a judgement call for somebody to make” about who was chosen as the head coach.
Court documents also show Wiley returned as an assistant coach under Russ for both 2010 and 2011. The Beavercreek High School girls cross country team was the Division I state runner-up last season and is among the favorites for a state title next fall. Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@ Daytondailynews.com.