Canton Schools settle with family over alleged McKinley pizza hazing incident for $125,000

CANTON ‒ The Canton City School District has settled local and federal lawsuits filed over the May 2021 discipline of a McKinley High School football player that involved him eating a pepperoni pizza, even though his religious beliefs prohibit the consumption of pork.

The settlement agreement calls for $125,000 to be paid to the former player and his parents, Kenneth Walker and Lori Cruz. It provides for the payment to be made by the school district and its insurance carrier, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., and sent to the family's attorney Edward L. Gilbert of Akron.

The document, finalized in June, states the school district denies all allegations of wrongdoing made by the family in the litigation.

Superintendent Jeffery Talbert declined to comment on the litigation on behalf of himself and school board members.

The suits were filed in Stark County Common Pleas Court and U.S. District Court.

Named as defendants in the federal civil rights lawsuit were the Canton City School District, its school board members, Talbert, former head football coach Marcus Wattley and his former assistant coaches Frank McLeod, Zachary Sweat, Romeo Harris, Cade Brodie, Tyler Thatcher and Josh Grimsley. U.S. District Judge John R. Adams dismissed all claims against the coaches in September 2022.

Defendants in the Stark County case were the school board, then-athletic director Antonio Hall (now head football coach), Wattley, McLeod, Harris, Brodie and Thatcher.

What was alleged in the lawsuits?

The suits had alleged Wattley and his former coaching assistants hazed the then 17-year-old player when they ordered him to eat a pepperoni pizza as punishment for missing a workout even though he objected because his Hebrew Israelite religious faith forbids the consumption of pork or pork residue.

The coaches have maintained that they did not force the player to stay and eat the pizza, that they offered an alternative without pork, and that the discipline was intended to rescue a troubled player whose off-the-field behavior was negatively influencing his teammates and jeopardizing his future as a Division I college athlete.

The coaches have said they intended to give the player the “royal treatment” by giving him a pizza to eat while his teammates continued to work, as a way to convey the uncomfortable feeling of being the only one eating and relaxing in a room full of hungry working men.

Federal civil rights case: Ex-McKinley football player sues, alleges coaches coerced him to eat pizza against beliefs

Coaches' suit says they were defamed

The only lawsuit involving the May 2021 discipline that's still ongoing is a defamation lawsuit that six of the former coaches filed in Stark County Common Pleas Court in May 2023.

In that case, Wattley, McLeod, Sweat, Harris, Brodie and Thatcher claim their reputations have been ruined due to false and misleading statements made by the defendants: the player, his father, Gilbert, Grimsley, Talbert, then-school board president John "J.R." Rinaldi, and then-safety and security director Stephen Humphrey.

The lawsuit is similar to the defamation case the coaches filed in July 2021 and withdrew in January 2023, but it includes additional claims against Talbert, Rinaldi, Humphrey and Grimsley.

Federal case: McKinley coaches dismissed from civil rights lawsuit over pizza discipline

In the six former coaches' 2021 lawsuit, Stark County Common Pleas Judge Natalie Haupt had dismissed the Canton City school officials from the case after ruling the alleged defamatory statements attributed to district officials either contained no false statements of facts, were opinions and judgment calls or had not been published.

The refiled lawsuit sought to hold school district leaders accountable for the harm the coaches say they caused when they failed to fully investigate the player’s accusations and did not inform the public truthfully.

Stark County cases: Two lawsuits filed over ex-McKinley High School football player's pizza-eating discipline

Judge dismisses school officials as defendants in coaches' case

In a judgment entry filed Monday, Haupt dismissed Talbert and Rinaldi as defendants in the 2023 defamation case.

In her decision, Haupt wrote that the defamation claims were not filed within the one-year statute of limitations. She wrote that related claims of civil conspiracy and publication of defamatory statements failed due to the same deadline not having been met. She also dismissed the coaches' claim about video evidence being destroyed.

Haupt dismissed other claims against Talbert and Rinaldi on grounds that public officials are immune from lawsuits unless they act outside their responsibilities, or act with malicious purpose, bad faith, wantonness or recklessness. She wrote that the school board resolutions about the coaches were made as part of the official functions of the board, which is required to give reasons for terminating teachers.

She wrote that Talbert's public statements contained no falsehoods, and were opinions and judgment calls made in connection with the duties to investigate and make decisions.

Haupt wrote that the remaining claims − those not subject to the one-year statute of limitations − remain pending against the other defendants.

Peter Pattakos, the attorney representing the coaches, took a dim view of the schools' settling state and federal lawsuits for $125,000.

"The district's decision to pay Ed Gilbert and his clients a six-figure settlement is one of the most corrupt wastes of public funds you will ever see,” the Fairlawn lawyer wrote in an email.

He wrote that Judge Adams had already dismissed the family's claims against the coaches about "pork residue" in the federal case, and that Gilbert and his clients had no chance of prevailing against the school district on their remaining claim in federal court.

Pattakos wrote that the player won the football team's pork rib eating contest two summers before the May 2021 incident, and admitted that the coaches knew nothing about his religious beliefs.

First suit dropped: Former McKinley football coaches dismiss defamation lawsuit, intend to refile

Staff writer Amy Knapp contributed to this story.

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.

On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton City Schools pays $125,000 to settle McKinley pizza lawsuits