The Baker School District settled a lawsuit filed in 2020 after a complaint about alleged sexual harassment by a Baker High School volleyball coach.

BAKER CITY — A Baker City woman and her daughter who filed a federal lawsuit against the Baker School District two years ago, claiming that district officials retaliated against the daughter after she complained about alleged sexual harassment by a Baker High School volleyball coach, have settled the suit out of court and will receive $200,000.

The money comes from the district’s “risk pool and not out of district funds,” according to a press release.

Roberta Fast and her daughter, Katrina, filed the suit in April 2020 in U.S. District Court.

They contended that the district violated a federal law prohibiting discrimination in schools — commonly known as Title IX — as well as the First Amendment and Oregon law.

As part of the settlement, both parties agreed to a statement that the school district released Thursday afternoon, May 5. It reads:

“Baker School District values its relationships with students, families, staff and the community. These relationships are critical to the District’s efforts to support student safety. We thank former District student Katrina Fast for coming forward and sharing her concerns. The District acknowledges the contribution of Ms. Fast and her efforts to effect change to protect others. Katrina serves as an example of how one person’s dedication can positively impact a community. We are committed to protecting all students in our District.”

The Fasts, who filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Pendleton, were represented by Jennifer J. Middleton, a Eugene attorney.

The central charge in the suit was that school district officials kept Katrina Fast, then a BHS junior, off the varsity volleyball team — she played on the JV team as a junior in the fall of 2019 — as retaliation for her complaints about the actions of head volleyball coach Warren Wilson.

“While the district has been advised not to respond to specific allegations, the district can share that it disputes the allegations in the complaint and looks forward to addressing and resolving those claims through the course of the litigation process,” Mark Witty, school district superintendent, wrote in an email.

Defendant further denies that Plaintiff Katrina Fast’s volleyball placement had any connection to Plaintiff’s reports about her coach made the prior school year.

Katrina and Roberta Fast complained about Wilson to multiple district officials in January 2019, after Katrina’s sophomore volleyball season in the fall of 2018, according to the lawsuit.

In an April 2020 interview, not long after filing the lawsuit, Middleton told the Herald that Katrina Fast “is an incredibly brave and strong young woman. She should have been listened to sooner. The school district needs to be held accountable for taking a brave, strong young woman and attempting to squash her dreams.”

Katrina Fast also played for a club volleyball team. After graduating from Eagle Cap Innovative High School in Baker City in 2021, Fast enrolled at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa, where she was played setter and led her team, and was fifth in her conference, in assists.

In April 2022 Fast signed a letter of intent to transfer to Warner Pacific University in Portland, her parents’ alma mater, to continue her college volleyball career this fall.

After the Fasts expressed concerns about Wilson to district officials, including superintendent Mark Witty, Witty fired Wilson as head volleyball coach and assistant baseball coach on Feb. 25, 2019. The firing was appealed to the Baker School Board, which upheld Wilson’s termination on March 19, 2019.

During the meeting, Wilson’s supporters criticized the way the issue was handled and spoke favorably of Wilson’s character and coaching abilities. A member of the volleyball team urged the Board not to act based on comments from a few players who were dissatisfied with the coach and how much playing time they had been given.

As recently as April 4, 2022, both Middleton and the school district’s attorney, Kim Hoyt of Salem, jointly filed a pretrial order in which they agreed to certain facts.

On March 17, 2022, the attorneys filed a document in court starting that the parties had mediation sessions on March 23, 2020 — before Fasts filed the lawsuit — and again on August 9, 2021, after the lawsuit was filed. Both were unsuccessful, according to the document.

“The parties have completed extensive paper discovery and depositions and are currently preparing for trial,” the March 17 document reads. “After good faith settlement attempts, the parties have failed to settle their dispute and do not believe ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) will assist in the resolution of this case.”