Ex-Fort coach files complaint over his firing

Fort Defiance High School’s former wrestling coach has filed a federal discrimination complaint over his firing earlier this year, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Terry Waters has hired Jon Goldfarb of Wiggins, Childs, Quinn & Pantazis, a prominent Washington, D.C., law firm, to represent him in the claim filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That agency investigates employment-related charges of discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, age or disability.

Goldfarb did not respond to e-mail requests for a copy of the complaint. He would comment neither on the nature of the complaint nor those named in it. EEOC complaints are not a matter of public record. Waters declined to comment.

Fort Defiance fired Waters, who is black and legally deaf, in June. He compiled a 231-65 record over 14 seasons.

After his firing, Waters told The News Virginian that Fort Defiance Principal Larry Landes said that the school wanted to go in a “new direction” and also cited his poor relationship with other coaches at the school.

“I told him how can I have a relationship with people who never gave me a chance when I first got to Fort,” Waters said in a June 10 text message to The News Virginian.

Wiggins, Childs, Quinn & Pantazis specializes in discrimination lawsuits. The firm in March 2006 won a $32-million class-action lawsuit against Family Dollar Stores for violating overtime laws, according to the firm’s Web site.

Federal discrimination complaints must be reviewed by the EEOC before a lawsuit can be filed. The EEOC investigates discrimination claims and seeks to mediate agreements between the parties. If no agreement can be reached, the EEOC notifies both sides if a violation has occurred and then issues a right to sue. The case then can be brought to court.

Waters’ is the second EEOC case at Fort Defiance in roughly two years. Former Fort Defiance Principal Paul E. “Chip” Hill Jr., who was transferred from that job in 2006, filed an age discrimination suit earlier this year against the Augusta County School Board and Superintendent Gary McQuain. The EEOC ruled in April that Hill had a right to sue.

Waters is also the second prominent Fort Defiance coach to be fired in less than six months. Last week, the school fired 25-year football coach Dale Spitzer. The coach told The News Virginian that school Principal Larry Landes said he wanted the program to go in a new direction. Spitzer remains a teacher at the school.

Waters was one of two black varsity head coaches in Augusta County. Riverheads cross country Coach Doris Scott is now the only black head coach in the county.