Rye City Schools in Penalty Box with Former Coach, Issues Apology + $125K
A former Rye basketball coach has received $125K and an apology from Rye City Schools as part of a settlement. The coach, Brian Lavelle, filed a suit back in 2011.
LoHud has the story:
"RYE — With a $125,000 settlement and, more importantly, a written apology, a girls basketball coach fired from the Rye City School District three years ago is now hoping to get his coaching career back on track.
The payment to Brian Lavelle, 52, follows a district apology issued as part of the Nov. 7 settlement of his defamation suit against the district, which had falsely asserted surveillance video showed him stealing two credit cards and $30 from a student’s backpack.
“Brian Lavelle should not have been terminated. The school district apologizes to Mr. Lavelle,” the statement says, adding it would “welcome the opportunity to consider Mr. Lavelle for another coaching position.”
But Lavelle, who said he has been unable to get a local coaching job since his termination and that he’d been ostracized by former coaching friends and even some family members, said it “would be very difficult” to work there again.
“It actually destroyed my career,” the Yonkers resident said."
