Media File Suits Over Coach’s Settlement

The Los Angeles Times filed court papers Tuesday asking a judge to order the Ventura County Community College District to release details of a lawsuit settlement reached with a fired basketball coach.

The Times and other media in Ventura County took legal action after the college district refused reporters’ requests to release details of an Aug. 4 settlement with former Ventura College Coach Glen Hefferman.

District officials said they had planned to release copies of the settlement, but decided not to after Hefferman’s attorney threatened to sue, saying it was a confidential document.

The Ventura County Star newspaper filed similar papers Monday, said Managing Editor Joe Howry. KVTA-AM (1520), a Ventura radio station, also plans to join the action, said General Manager Chip Ehrhardt.

A hearing date is tentatively set for Sept. 2.

In recent cases, judges generally have ruled that settlements between public agencies and private parties are public records, even if a confidentiality clause has been signed.

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

Two months after he started coaching, the basketball program was placed on a two-year probation and banned from postseason play by the Western States Conference. Ventura College officials said Hefferman abandoned his position after Ventura’s appeal of the sanctions was rejected.

In his lawsuit filed in Ventura County Superior Court, Hefferman contended that he was misled by the district and wrongfully discharged. Hefferman now coaches at Malcolm X Community College in Chicago.