The federal lawsuit filed by Rory Minter, former Kingsville Independent School District athletic director, against the district a school board member and former superintendent has been settled out of court.

The KISD board of trustees approved a mediated settlement during a special meeting held Monday afternoon.

KISD trustees went into executive session at 4:10 p.m. and took action almost an hour and a half later.

“In view of the fact there is no fault on either party and upon agreement by both parties, I make a motion to approve the mediated settlement,” stated Larry E. Garza, KISD president.

The motion also included that “the insurance carrier will borne cost of the mediated settlement.”

This means the KISD insurance carrier will pay for the monetary settlement.

KISD board members, Coronado Garza, Jilma Viduarri, Juan Garza, Annabelle Garza and Larry E. Garza voted for the motion.

Romeo Reyes, who was a party to the lawsuit, abstained.

Trustee Joe Trevino was absent.

The amount of the monetary settlement was not revealed at the meeting nor by Emilio Castro, KISD superintendent or Minter who was later contacted.

Castro also said he did not know the amount of money KISD has spent in attorney fees or other litigation costs pertaining to the Minter case.

Had the KISD board members not made a decision to settle, they were headed to the federal court in Corpus Christi Feb. 2, 2010. This agenda

(See Minter, Page 8A) item concerning the Minter case has appeared at previous school board meetings but no action was ever taken. The pending litigation stated: Civil Action No. CV-09-28; Rory D. Minter v. Kingsville Independent School District, Dr. Rudolph Lopez, Jr. Superintendent, Kingsville Independent School District, in his official and individual capacity, and Romeo Reyes, in his offical and individual capacity.

All parties involved and their attorneys met in a mediation session on Dec. 21, 2009, in San Antonio. Apparently, The KISD trustees accepted the mediation agreement Monday that was discussed at the San Antonio meeting last month.

“I cannot discuss the specifics of this case,” said Castro after the Monday meeting. The young superintendent inherited this situation since he was hired in June 2009.

Castro believes that something positive can be made from this negative situation.

“This is a real opportunity for the district to grow and learn from this experience and become a more accountable district to ourselves, employees, parents and the community,” he said.

“I can not discuss any of the litigation,” Minter replied after being asked about the lawsuit and monetary settlement.

“I am happy this case has been resolved, and we can put this behind us and go on with our lives,” Minter said. He had been employed with KISD for 13 years as a basketball coach and the last four years as an athletic director. He lived in Denton, Texas before relocating to Kingsville. Minter has been in the education profession 25 years.

Minter filed a federal lawsuit in the Texas Southern District Federal Court against KISD in February 2009. The basis of the lawsuit was Title 7 Civil Rights violations that included discrimination, retaliation and harassment. Minter also made a conspiracy claim the next month against Lopez and also Romeo Reyes, board member. Lopez, who retired last year after serving five years with KISD, now lives in Waco.

The Minter situation began March 2008 when he accused Reyes of harassment during a basketball game playoff game one month before the H.M. King High School gym was used as a neutral site.

Minter, serving as a playoff game’s adminstrator, claimed that Reyes walked in his office and harassed him.

One week later Lopez told Minter his contract would be renewed for one year instead of two years.

Minter was shocked after reviewing his evaluation.

The evaluation documents noted that Minter had exemplary work.

Minter then filed two more grievances. The first grievance against Lopez declared discrimination and retaliation as reasons his contract had only be renewed for one year. The second grievance was against Valdemar Leal, KISD personnel director, for not following through with the previous grievance. Leal, who had been with KISD over 30 years, retired as personnel director in December.

In May 2008, KISD board members dismissed the complaints against Lopez and Leal.

However, they agreed to allow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to mediate the case against Reyes.

That mediation held June 2008 was not agreeable with Minter who then decided to hire Charles Smith, a Corpus Christi attorney.

That same month Minter offered KISD to buy out the last year of his contract which was $69,000 but the district declined.

Minter resigned on July 10, 2008 from KISD and was hired months later as an assistant basketball coach with Haltom High School in the Birdville Independent School District.

Minter explained in past interviews that he followed the procedures that eventually led to a federal civil rights violation lawsuit. He first filed the grievances with the personnel director; then he had a hearing with KISD board members.

He also notified the Texas Education Agency of his situation.

He also participated in mediation in June 2008 that was not accepted by him. Minter stated the EEOC told him Nov. 8, 2008 they did not have enough findings to pursue the case themselves with their attorneys; however, Minter could file the lawsuit himself.

In the past, KISD officials and board members when contacted declined to comment for newspaper articles concerning the Minter case because of the litigation involvement.