 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Volleyball team's demise ruled fair game
Tuesday, June 19, 2001 By Torsten Ove, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Keystone Oaks School District did not violate a court order by allowing its volleyball team to disband after it had been ordered to reinstate a controversial player, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose said the district made "all reasonable efforts" to comply with her order to reinstate high school senior Jack Flaherty to the team.
Flaherty, his parents and the American Civil Liberties Union had argued that for allowing the team to disband rather than put Flaherty back on the squad, the school district should be held in contempt of court.
On April 13, Ambrose ruled that the district violated Flaherty's free-speech rights when it dismissed him for participating in online trash-talk about a teacher and a rival team.
Less than a week later, head coach Jeff Sieg and assistant David Rushe resigned and seven varsity players quit.
The ACLU filed a motion for contempt, and Ambrose held a hearing.
Testimony revealed that the players didn't want to play if Flaherty was allowed to return. One said Flaherty broke the team rules and should have accepted his punishment rather than take his complaints to federal court.
District officials said they intended to follow Ambrose's order but couldn't after Sieg decided to quit and the players turned in their uniforms. With only four players left, the school couldn't field a team and canceled the season.
Ambrose's order denied the motion for contempt, but the underlying lawsuit remains. It claims the district violated Flaherty's right to free speech for what officials deemed was his misuse of a school computer.
Flaherty was originally barred from using the Internet at school and barred from after-school activities, including volleyball.
Witold Walczak, head of the Pittsburgh chapter of the ACLU, said the organization was "considering our options" on Ambrose's ruling. But he said the civil rights suit will proceed, with the ACLU and Flaherty seeking unspecified damages based on the district's conduct.
|
||||||||
