Fresno State pays nearly $10 million to settle lawsuits brought by Wright, Johnson-Klein

Fresno State can breathe a sigh of relief as two major civil cases were settled over the summer.

Women’s softball coach Margie Wright and Fresno State came to an agreement of more than $600,000 including Wright’s attorney fees. Fresno State also settled with former women’s basketball coach Stacy Johnson–Klein at $9 million.

Wright had originally filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights citing gender discrimination back in 2004.

In an issued statement, Wright said, “ I trust the administration’s assurances of support, including facilities improvements for the softball program.”

Johnson-Klein’s complaint alleged sexual harassment and unlawful grounds for termination.

Wiggins, Welty hope focus returns to student-athletes

Current women’s basketball coach, Adrian Wiggins, is glad the cases are settled and hopes the media and the public can put the negative image of bulldog athletics caused by the cases behind them.

“These legal cases will hopefully no longer be a distraction and that everyone will focus on the team and our abilities on the floor,” Wiggins said.

Wiggins said the team is looking forward to the season and is working hard to win a WAC championship title. He said the lawsuits did unfortunately involve a few of his players but that overall throughout the course of the court cases the spirit and drive of the team has never dampened.

“I will admit it was stressful at first, but we worked together and learned to direct our attention to the task at hand and at the time, that was playing a winning season.” Wiggins said.

He said that his team has moved on and has not been affected by the lawsuits.

“The athletes are really happy here and are having fun,” said Wiggins. “We are continuing to grow and work towards a phenomenal season performance.”

When Fresno State officially announced the case settlements back in July, university President John D. Welty issued a statement saying the time has come for the university to move on.

“I am pleased that there has been a resolution,” Welty said. “The university will continue to move forward in providing the best possible experiences for students, faculty, and staff.”

Discrimination cases seen before

Including these two cases, there has now been a total of three settlements of this kind for Fresno State.

The first was with former Associate Athletic Director Diane Milutinovich for $3.5 million.

The only other suit is that of former volleyball coach Lindy Vivas, a case which is still pending.

Vivas was originally awarded $4.5 million, but the university is now appealing.

Money for all judgements and settlements comes from a university insurance policy.