College, Ex-Coach Settle Lawsuit

A former Ventura College basketball coach has settled a lawsuit against the community college district.

The settlement, announced this week, marked the end of a legal dispute in which former Pirates coach Glen Hefferman contended that college officials deceived him when he was hired by failing to tell him the team was under investigation by a regional athletic board for recruiting violations.

Community College District officials filed a cross-complaint against Hefferman, which was included in the settlement.

“Both sides have amicably agreed to settlement terms and are pleased to have this behind them,” the district said in a statement.

Neither side would comment further on terms of the agreement.

According to his original lawsuit, Hefferman maintained that he was not told when he was hired that the program was facing severe sanctions and prohibition from postseason play for violating state athletic rules, including providing players with money and free meals.

But two months after he began teaching, the Western State Conference slapped the program with sanctions and a two-year probation.

The lawsuit, filed last year in Ventura County Superior Court, claimed that Hefferman was misled by the district, wrongfully discharged and discriminated against. He left the college after sanctions were imposed.

The settlement is the district’s second with a basketball coach in recent years. In December 1997, the district agreed to pay Virgil Watson $70,000 after the former coach protested his firing.