Education

Orange schools settles suit by former coach

Federal officials have closed a complaint alleging that Orange County Schools was shortchanging girls athletic teams by providing less aid to their coaches than to coaches of boys teams, according to the district.

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Laurie Calder-Green was removed from her coaching position at Cedar Ridge High School in early October after yelling at players.
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — Orange County Schools has settled a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former Cedar Ridge High School coach and her daughter, officials said Thursday.

Laurie Calder-Green was fired as volleyball coach at Cedar Ridge High in October 2008 after she yelled and swore at players. She continued to teach at the school until January, when she resigned as a condition of the settlement.

The school board agreed to pay $93,000 to settle the suit. Calder-Green will receive $50,770, her daughter, Emily Roberts, will get $10,000, and their attorneys will get the rest.

Roberts alleged that Orange County Schools wouldn't hire her because of the dispute with her mother.

As a condition of the settlement, neither woman can seek a job with the school district.

In a statement, school district officials denied any wrongdoing, noting that they were settling the case only to avoid the expense and disruption of a trial.

"Considering the turmoil this matter has already caused in the school system and the further disruption that a trial would potentially create, plus the time away from full attention to their school responsibilities a trial would require of staff, the board determined that a settlement served the best interest of the school system, especially the students and staff of Cedar Ridge High School," officials said in the statement.

Federal officials last year dismissed a Title IX complaint that local parents filed against the school district following Calder-Green's firing. Officials found no evidence that the district shortchanged girls athletic teams by providing less aid to their coaches than to coaches of boys teams.

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