College won’t release settlement
Fort Scott board didn’t review deal in football player’s death
Fort Scott Community College has refused to make public a settlement agreement with the family of a football player who died at a practice in 2021 and the college's governing body didn't review the document before it was approved by a federal judge.
In October 2022, Natasha Washington, the mother of Tirrell Williams, filed suit against the college and its former football coach, Carson Hunter, arguing not enough was done to protect student athletes. The 19-year-old suffered heat stroke during a practice and collapsed before dying 16 days later.
The suit alleges Hunter didn't provide Williams with water on the hot summer day he collapsed and made him go through a "reckless training regimen" despite being in obvious distress.
Fort Scott ended its football program in 2021 in a move that officials said wasn't related to Williams' death but was instead a financial decision.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson approved the settlement agreement earlier this month.
But an attorney representing the college denied a request under the Kansas Open Records Act to obtain a copy of the agreement, pointing to a confidentiality clause in the document — even though case law and opinions from the Kansas Attorney General's office have said that such clauses aren't an allowable excuse.
In a 1993 legal opinion, Attorney General Robert Stephan's office found "no authority" for the city of Mulvane "to discretionarily close a settlement agreement, absent facts to establish personal privacy." Similar cases since have underscored this finding, even with a confidentiality clause.
Zackery Reynolds, the college's attorney, said because the college's insurance carrier paid out the settlement, the agreement wasn't subject to KORA. He also cited exemptions closing records
related to federal student privacy, attorney-client privilege, as well as medical and personnel records.
Because insurance apparently paid the claim out directly, Reynolds said he was unaware of any clause requiring approval of the college's board of trustees and there was no requirement that public money be used to fulfill the settlement.
The agreement was only reviewed by the university president in an email covered by attorney-client privilege, Reynolds said.
"FSCC's Trustees did not sign the Settlement Agreement, nor was it asked to do so, another fact that distinguishes one of the cases you cited," Reynolds said in a response to The CapitalJournal's KORA request.
It is unclear what possible policy changes for Fort Scott Community College might have been included in the agreement, nor is it clear if there was a possible admission of wrongdoing on the part of the school.
In a phone interview, the board of trustees' chair, John Bartelsmeyer, said he was unaware of the details of the settlement but instead allowed the matter to be handled by Reynolds and the insurance company, which appears to be the Kansas Education Risk Management Pool. The board is listed as the defendant in the lawsuit.
"I can't answer that,"
Bartelsmeyer said. "I mean, I don't know. No, there was nothing ever discussed about that, that I know of."
A joint motion notifying the judge of the settlement agreement said both the college and Hunter "have denied, do deny, and continue to deny any liability" in the case.
Reynolds wrote that Washington didn't wish the settlement agreement to be made public.
"Especially since no public funds were paid to her, the satisfaction of a curiosity over how much she recovered in losing her son is not a legitimate concern to the public," Reynolds wrote. "Hundreds of wrongful death cases are settled every day, I suspect, containing confidentiality provisions."
An attorney for Washington didn't return a phone call seeking comment. As officials at Fort Scott didn't respond to email with questions on the matter.
Garden City Community College announced in 2020 a similar decision to settle three lawsuits filed by the family of Braeden Bradforth who, like Williams, died of heat stroke just days into his collegiate football career.
It appeared the college did ultimately release the agreement under the open records act. Media outlets at the time reported that the financial settlement was $500,000, the maximum that public institutions in Kansas are typically liable for under the Tort Claims Act.