The University of Iowa has reached a settlement with fired field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum and agreed not to appeal the ruling it lost in lawsuit by a former athletic administrator.
The settlement agrees to pay Tracey Griesbaum $300,000 in back pay, $1,187,588 for emotional distress and $1,062, 411 in attorney fees. The settlement comes as Griesbaum’s case alleging discrimination was set to go to trial.
It also comes on the heels of a jury verdict ordering the U-I to pay $1.43 million to former associate athletic director Jane Meyer, who claimed gender discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, retaliation and equal pay and whistleblower violations.
The U-I has agreed to not appeal the Meyer verdict and to pay her $1.6 million for attorney fees. The settlement says the school does not admit any guilt in the Griesbaum case.
A statement from the school says the money will come out of the Athletic Department budget. It also says “having reached agreements with Ms. Griesbaum and Ms. Meyer, the university will continue to focus on next steps. As previously announced, the University of Iowa will hire an independent firm(s) to conduct an external review of university employment practices. The reviews will include three phases; phase one will cover the U-I Athletics Department, phase two will include U-I academic and operational units, and phase three will focus on U-I Health Care.”
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