• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

Fired football coach files $1.1 million lawsuit

Posted at 1:41 pm August 10, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Don Colquitt

Don Colquitt

A former football coach and teaching assistant has filed a $1.1 million lawsuit against Oak Ridge school officials alleging that his firing in February was based upon a single “false complaint” from a student who alleged inappropriate contact—and he never had a chance to respond to the charges.

Coach Donald Colquitt suggested his reputation has been sullied by the unspecified complaint of “inappropriate contact with an Oak Ridge High School student,” and his local football career has been ruined. He filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in Anderson County Circuit Court on August 4.

“The ‘unanswered’ cloud of secrecy over the vague complaint allegedly filed against the plaintiff by an Oak Ridge High School student has caused him to effectively lose his career as a football coach in the Oak Ridge community, where he has engaged in that activity for some 19 years, and has further affected his reputation and character as a civic leader and football coach in the Oak Ridge school system,” the lawsuit said. “He will be unable to engage in such activity in the future and has sustained damages for loss of his career and future as a football coach, with damages resulting from the adverse imputation to his name, as well as his reputation in the community.”

The defendants are Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers and the Oak Ridge Board of Education.

Colquitt said he has never acted inappropriately or made any inappropriate contact with an ORHS student while employed by Oak Ridge Schools, but both the superintendent and school board have denied his right to be heard, including through a grievance hearing before the board.

“The only response that has been consistently made by the board, as well as the school superintendent, is that the superintendent had the right to ‘fire’ the plaintiff, and no one could question his authority to do so, not even the board,” the lawsuit said.

Prior to his mid-year termination on February 17, Colquitt had been the acting head freshman football coach and assistant varsity coach of the Oak Ridge High School football team. He was also an ORHS teacher’s assistant, helping a “special needs” student, the lawsuit said. He had previously been a teacher’s assistant and football coach at Jefferson Middle School.

Colquitt went to work at the high school after head coach Joe Gaddis returned to lead the Wildcats. He agreed to a one-year contract with ORHS to work as a teacher’s assistant, with an annual salary, starting August 2013 and ending June 2014, said the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Colquitt by Oak Ridge attorney Robert W. Knolton.

Colquitt was not paid any stipend or receive any other payment for his work as a football coach, although he expected to continue coaching and receive payment later, the lawsuit said.

Colquitt said there hadn’t been any prior notice of a problem, but he was placed on indefinite administrative leave with pay on January 14 while school officials investigated the “inappropriate contact” allegation.

“The plaintiff was not advised of further details about the complaint, nor of the name of the student who had made the complaint,” the lawsuit said. “The plaintiff was assured by the high school administration at that time that there were no serious problems of which they were aware, and assured him that this was a necessary process when a student complaint is made, indicating to him that it would take a short period of time to conduct the investigation.”

The suit said Colquitt wasn’t given any more details on the nature of the complaint, who made it, or whom might have been interviewed or what they said. He was also not given a chance to contradict the charges that “supposedly constituted ‘inappropriate contact’ with a student,” the lawsuit said. Knolton also hasn’t been able to get that information, the suit said.

The lawsuit said the student’s complaint was apparently related to a school policy regarding discrimination, harassment, and bullying of students.

“However, the school administration failed to follow its own procedural process in the investigation and furnishing of information to the plaintiff, against whom the complaint was filed,” the lawsuit said.

Colquitt said he was “passed” a termination letter during a meeting in the superintendent’s office on February 17.

Colquitt, who has set up a GoFundMe page to help with legal expenses, said the allegation of inappropriate contact with an Oak Ridge High School student was never properly verified or appropriately investigated. He alleged his due process rights have been violated; his good name, reputation, honor, and integrity have been damaged, and he’s lost past and future earnings. He is seeking a jury trial, $600,000 in compensatory damages, and $500,000 in punitive damages.

Filed Under: Education, High School, K-12, Sports, Top Stories Tagged With: administrative leave, Anderson County Circuit Court, Bruce Borchers, complaint, football coach, inappropriate contact, Joe Gaddis, lawsuit, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools, ORHS, Robert W. Knolton, teacher's assistant, termination letter, wrongful termination

Advertisements


 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Education News

Learn why bugs are good

Submitted Every bug has a purpose. Did you know that very few caterpillars reach their mature size because birds gobble them down? It is estimated that one pair of chickadees must find 6,000 caterpillars to feed one … [Read More...]

Secret City Academy student charged with terrorism after alleged shooting, bomb threats

A Secret City Academy student was charged with terrorism and other crimes after allegedly threatening to shoot people and use a bomb at the school on Friday, Anderson County's district attorney general said. This is the … [Read More...]

ORHS Masquers presents ‘Into the Woods’

Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s extracurricular drama program, is presenting "Into the Woods," the Stephen Sondheim musical based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales, in four performances this … [Read More...]

Roane State employees receive excellence awards

Four Roane State Community College employees have been recognized as winners of the prestigious Excellence Award bestowed by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. NISOD has been named the … [Read More...]

Tennessee Holocaust Commission accepting student entries for 2022 contest

“The Holocaust is a lesson in human (and inhuman) history that took place because of hate, bigotry, indifference—all characteristics that know no bounds. These traits spread like wildfire. If we remain indifferent to … [Read More...]

More Education

Recent Posts

  • ORAU launches new app with a variety of resources available, including hundreds of STEM internships, fellowships and research opportunities
  • Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion
  • Y-12 now getting power from Pine Ridge substation
  • Man sentenced to 8 years after fleeing, crashing, attempting carjackings
  • Three Ohio residents die in two-vehicle crash
  • DOE picks Idaho for nuclear test reactor
  • TBI investigating man’s death
  • Luminarias to feature peace messages
  • Oak Ridge tennis court dance is Thursday
  • DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today