Court places Mead School District in contempt over withholding documents in hazing lawsuit

The Mead School District is in contempt of court over the release of documents in a case alleging the district did not address sexual abuse and hazing in its football program, a judge has ruled.

The Mead district claims the slow release of discovery materials was only done in efforts to protect private student data.

The case stems from a 2023 incident at an Eastern Washington University-hosted football camp. Two Mead students were allegedly restrained by a group of Mead High football players as a “massage gun” was applied to their private parts.

The contempt order requires the district to produce emails and electronic search results that had previously been agreed to by both parties. If Mead does not produce the documents in the next 21 days, they will be fined $2,500 per day for each day they do not comply with the order.

In December, both parties had agreed Mead would produce documents on a rolling basis every two weeks. The district only produced 85 emails before a contempt motion was filed and then released thousands of emails that “improperly” redact information related to the case, according to the judge.

“Defendants’ opposition asserts that they have been producing emails ‘as agreed’ despite the overwhelming record demonstrating otherwise,” reads Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese’s order. “Defendants’ conduct constitutes willful noncompliance with this Court.”

In a statement, the Mead School District said it is in the process of redacting sensitive student information. While the district “respects the Court’s Order,” they disagree with it.

“It’s inaccurate and unfair for anyone to say that there was stonewalling or obstruction by the Mead School District or attorneys representing the district. There are over 13,000 emails at issue. The emails include information about student victims of sexual assault, health issues, confidential family matters, or countless other extremely private discussions over the requested 6-year time period,” Mead spokesperson Todd Zeidler said in a statement.

Before any disclosure of such information, the district needs to notify parents, he added.

“It takes time to make sure students, parents, and others (who have nothing to do with this litigation) are notified and protected from inadvertent disclosure of private emails about their son or daughter,” the spokesperson said.

The district has already disclosed 60,000 pages and more than 9,000 emails, Zeidler added.

“Overall, any claim that the School District isn’t protecting students is misleading, given that the School District’s only interest here is protecting highly sensitive student information,” he said.

The lawyer representing the family suing Mead schools said the contempt order “forces the district to stop obstructing justice and acknowledge its failures.”

“Mead School District had every opportunity to follow the law, but instead, it chose stonewalling and obstruction,” lawyer Marcus Sweetser said in a statement. “This ruling should be a wake-up call – no public institution, especially one entrusted with children’s safety, can hide the truth from the families it serves.”