Metcalf to get nearly $1.1M in settlement with Grand Ledge schools

GRAND LEDGE — A dispute between former superintendent Brian Metcalf and Grand Ledge Public Schools over what compensation the school district owes him has been settled, with the district agreeing to pay him nearly $1.1 million.

Metcalf signed a settlement agreement with the school district on Oct. 20, 2 1/2 years after he made comments about George Floyd on social media, and then was fired later that same year. Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis.

The district will pay Metcalf $1,087,500, according to a copy of the agreement the State Journal obtained through a public records request. Tim Mullins, an attorney representing the school district, didn't respond to a request for a copy of the agreement earlier this month.

The money includes $225,000 "less lawful deductions and withholdings" for a year of Metcalf's salary and $75,000 in punitive damages, according to the settlement.

The school district has also agreed to pay Metcalf $727,500 "for non-wage damages attributable to personal, physical injuries suffered by him at the meeting of the Board of Grand Ledge Public schools on June 5, 2020."

The district's Board of Education listened to more than seven hours of public comment during that meeting.

The school district will pay $60,000 to Metcalf's attorney, Eric Delaporte, as part of the settlement.

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Delaporte acknowledged a settlement had been finalized late last month, but declined to provide details about it or a copy of the document to the State Journal.

John Miller, an attorney representing the school district, said in an emailed statement that school officials wanted to resolve the dispute "from the beginning of this litigation. Unfortunately, throughout this litigation, Dr. Metcalf’s demands greatly exceeded the value of his contract, which made this matter unresolvable.

"While I remain confident that the actions the board took and the reasons for them were legal and in the district’s best interests, further disputing this matter could extend it for several more years," Miller said. "The district opted for an immediate resolution, which was funded by insurance dollars and money set aside for this purpose.

The settlement serves as a dismissal of the nearly $880,000 arbitration award former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert Young Jr. ordered the district to pay Metcalf in late September, according to the document.

It also dismisses lawsuits both Metcalf and the school district filed in Eaton County Circuit Court in the weeks following Young's decision, both contesting the award amount. Metcalf's lawsuit claimed he was owed as much as $8 million. The school district filed a claim asking a judge to throw out Young's award in mid-October.

The settlement agreement does not constitute "an admission of liability," according to the document, and Metcalf agrees not to seek future employment with the district.

The agreement is the second legal settlement the school district has reached this fall. In late September school officials settled a lawsuit filed by the family of Malachi Williams, a 9-year-old boy who was fatally struck in 2021 by a school bus outside a Grand Ledge Public Schools building.

Grand Ledge schools declined to disclose any of the details of that settlement.

In its Oct. 17 response to a records request from the State Journal for a copy of the settlement agreement, the district's FOIA Coordinator John Ellsworth cited a court order sealing the agreement signed by Eaton County Circuit Court Judge Janice Cunningham.

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Metcalf to get nearly $1.1M in settlement with Grand Ledge schools