Football players settle discrimination lawsuit against Iowa for $4M

Former Iowa football players have agreed to settle a discrimination lawsuit against the school for $4.175 million, according to Hawkeye Central.

The players, who are Black, first filed the complaint in 2020 — alleging a racist culture under head coach Kirk Ferentz and athletic director Gary Barta.

Given that Iowa is a public university, the settlement terms needed to be approved by an appeals board. 

The board reportedly voted 2-1 in favor of the plan, which included a controversial component: $2 million would come from state funding, while the rest would be from the athletic department.

State auditor Rob Sand, however, said he wanted taxpayer funds to be used unless the school fired Barta. He said this was the fourth time during Barta’s tenure that there had been a settlement related to race discrimination.

When the settlement was approved, Ferentz expressed that he disagreed with the idea of settling and disputed all the lawsuit claims.