Praying Football Coach Receives Nearly $2 Million Settlement from School District
Joe Kennedy, an assistant high school football coach in Washington state, has accepted a $1,775,000 settlement package from the school district that fired him over his post-game prayer ritual after a court found the move unconstitutional.
"We are thrilled that Bremerton and Coach Kennedy are back together and we hope they go undefeated," an executive general counsel at First Liberty Institute, a legal organization that represented Kennedy, told the Seattle Times in a statement.
Kennedy first began praying on the 50-yard line after football games in 2008. Over the coming years, Kennedy's postgame ritual grew to include athletes and students with inspirational talks featuring religious references. The informal ritual was never made mandatory for any students, athletes, or coaches.
Joe Kennedy, an assistant high school football coach in Washington state, has accepted a $1,775,000 settlement package from the school district that fired him over his post-game prayer ritual after a court found the move unconstitutional.
"We are thrilled that Bremerton and Coach Kennedy are back together and we hope they go undefeated," an executive general counsel at First Liberty Institute, a legal organization that represented Kennedy, told the Seattle Times in a statement.
Kennedy first began praying on the 50-yard line after football games in 2008. Over the coming years, Kennedy's postgame ritual grew to include athletes and students with inspirational talks featuring religious references. The informal ritual was never made mandatory for any students, athletes, or coaches.
