College District Mum on Settlement Details

Ventura County Community College District officials said Friday they will not release details of a confidential lawsuit settlement that was reached with a fired Ventura College basketball coach.

The decision was made after an attorney for former Pirates coach Glen Hefferman threatened in a letter to sue the district if the terms were disclosed, said Jack Lipton, the college district’s attorney.

Lipton said district officials had planned to release copies of the settlement Thursday but decided not to after receiving a faxed two-page letter from Hefferman’s attorney, James J. Armstrong.

“We got a public records request from the media, and that’s why the district was going to release it,” Lipton said.

If media agencies decide to sue, Lipton said, he believes the district will eventually be ordered by a judge to release the settlement.

In several civil cases involving confidentiality agreements between public agencies and private parties, judges have ruled such settlements are public records.

Hefferman, 33, sued the college district last year, alleging college officials deceived him by failing to tell him when he was hired in 1997 that the basketball team was under investigation for recruiting violations.

Two months after he started coaching, the basketball program was hit with heavy sanctions and a two-year probation.

Hefferman, who now coaches at Malcolm X Community College in Chicago, also alleged in his suit that he was wrongfully discharged and discriminated against.