Deal is reached in coach lawsuit

Stacy Johnson-Klein and Fresno State agree to settle for $9 million.

Published online on Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2008

Fresno State and Stacy Johnson-Klein have reached a settlement in the former women's basketball coach's landmark sex discrimination lawsuit against the university, her lead attorney said Tuesday.

The deal apparently ends a bitter and high-profile struggle that prompted criticism of Fresno State President John Welty and the university's handling of women's athletics.

Johnson-Klein lawyer Warren Paboojian said the agreement calls for Fresno State to pay $9 million -- far less than the $19.1 million awarded by a jury last year but nearly as much as a reduced award later handed down by a judge.

The $9 million -- $5.4 million now and $3.6 million in payments over 20 years -- includes attorneys' fees, Paboojian said. He declined to reveal how the money would be divided between Johnson-Klein and her lawyers.

Paboojian said the settlement probably saved Fresno State and the California State University system about $900,000, based on the growing total of Johnson-Klein's judgment, plaintiff's costs, attorneys' fees and interest.

The settlement came after 11 hours of mediation in San Jose on Tuesday, Paboojian said. The Bee was unable to contact California State University representatives to independently confirm his account. A Fresno State official did not comment.

"We're happy Fresno State did the right thing," Paboojian said.

Johnson-Klein was not available for comment, he said.

"She's happy to have the case settled and to be able to put this behind her," Paboojian said.

Paboojian said Johnson-Klein will be out of town for the next few days, but may hold a news conference when she returns.

The Johnson-Klein settlement would relegate to history another of the three high-profile sex discrimination lawsuits against Fresno State in the past year.

Johnson-Klein was nearing the end of her third year as Fresno State women's basketball coach when she was suspended with pay by the university in February 2005. A month later, the university stunned her many fans when it fired her, saying she had violated university policies.

Among her alleged misdeeds was asking for, and receiving, a prescription painkiller from one of her players.

Johnson-Klein filed a lawsuit in August 2005, alleging she was the victim of harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation.

Settlement talks failed last fall, and a dramatic eight-week trial ended in December with a jury awarding $19.1 million to Johnson-Klein.

Johnson-Klein and other witnesses made allegations about sordid behavior by some Fresno State male administrators, and the unfair treatment of women who fought within the university for equal rights.

But Johnson-Klein didn't emerge unscathed, with former players alleging she sometimes was verbally abusive, and Fresno State officials alleging she was a poor steward of her program's finances.

Fresno State and CSU appealed the jury's verdict, and Johnson-Klein filed a cross appeal. Fresno County Superior Court Judge Donald S. Black reduced Johnson-Klein's award to $6.6 million, and later awarded $2.5 million in attorneys' fees. With other costs, the total was close to $10 million.

The two sides have warily circled each other over the past four months, tangling occasionally in court and verbally sparring in public.

Meanwhile, in July, a jury sided with former Bulldogs volleyball coach Lindy Vivas in her sex discrimination trial. The jury awarded her $5.85 million. A judge later reduced the award to $4.52 million, which Vivas accepted.

Fresno State appealed, and no settlement has been reached.

In October, CSU and Fresno State settled the sex discrimination lawsuit of former associate athletic director Diane Milutinovich for $3.5 million before it went to court.