Page 25 of The Lawyer's Quandary
“Is there more?”
“Oh, yes. A copy of the story has been sent to local and national news outlets. I suspect that his victims are going to be coming out of the woodwork. So you better have your ducks in a row, and if Adams was aware of Coach Bates’s behavior and covered it up, I’d say you will be in more trouble than you can handle.” He watched the provost, who moved back slightly.
“There is no way that we would ever cover this up.” He turned to Bates with a look of complete disgust. “We believe in the academic excellence of our students and in their social and physical welfare.”
In a way, Greg hoped it was true, because if it wasn’t, he was sure as hell going to find out. “I suggest the college figure out how much it can pay, because we will be filing suit, and part of that discovery will be determining just how truthful your statement is and how much people at the college may have known. Penn State ended up paying more than a million to eachof their abuse victims.” Now, he stood and left the room with Steven and his mom.
“Jesus,” Rachel said as soon as the door closed behind them. “You don’t take any prisoners, do you?”
“Not if I can help it. I have no idea if people at the college were aware of him, but we will find out, and with the players’ permission, I will be filing a lawsuit against the college. This sort of behavior should have been guarded against in the first place.”
“Do you think they knew about him?” Steven asked.
“I don’t know. The college is going to deny any knowledge, but once we file the suit, then we will be able to request information from the college, and at that time, we should be able to get some answers. Also, once this story hits the news, we will hear from other victims, and we’ll know how long this has been going on. In the meantime, you and the guys need to do your best to go back to your lives. Live it the best you can, and know that no matter what he did to you, you stood up to Bates and brought him down. You and the guys stopped him from hurting anyone else. Always remember that.”
Steven held out his hand, and Greg shook it. “Thank you for believing me and in us. I know we’ll be in touch.” He and his mom left the building, and Greg stood with Mark.
“I guess it’s time for us to go too,” Mark said softly. “I know you probably have plenty to do, but you just won a big victory for a lot of people today.” He glanced around and then tugged him into a stairwell and kissed him hard against the wall. “We could go somewhere quiet to celebrate.”
Mark’s offer was enticing. “I wish I could right now. But I have appointments in the office in a few hours, and I had to juggle my schedule so I could be here this morning. But how about I come back this evening, and we can celebrate then?” There was nothing he wanted more. “And maybe once we’vecelebrated a few times, we can start to hammer out a longer-term agreement.”
Mark growled and leaned closer. “I love it when you talk legal to me.”
Greg groaned. “Habeas corpus, corporate indenture, unlimited liability….” He might have gone on, but Mark kissed away the words, as well as just about anything else, and Greg wound his arms around his neck. Legalities be damned, he wanted this for a very long time.
Epilogue
Classes hadn’tstarted yet, but Mark was already busy. Not that Greg wasn’t busy all the time, but thanks to Angie and her calendar magic, they had been able to take a week’s vacation up to New England in early August. It had been one of the first trips that Greg had taken in years.
When are you done for the day?Greg texted Mark. Because classes weren’t yet in session, his schedule was more fluid than it would be in a week or so.
I’m done in two hours. Steven told me you were coming down to meet with everyone, and he asked me to be there. Is that okay?
Greg smiled.Of course. We can have dinner and maybe talk future plans.He had some ideas, and he wanted to see what Mark thought of them. They had both been driving between New Berlin and Carlisle quite a bit.
Sounds good. I’ll see you then. I have a session in the pool in ten.He sent a smiley face, and Greg in turn sent an eggplant, because Mark in the pool was sexy as all hell.
He returned to work, and Angie shooed him out the door in time for him to make his meeting. He drove through the countryside, which was filled with green trees dotted with red and yellow fruit, before pulling into campus and heading to where he had agreed to meet all of the guys.
“I reserved one of the student union multipurpose rooms,” Steven said when he met him. Steven led him through the noisy building and into a room, where he closed the door after them. As Greg had expected, the number of people Bates had taken advantage of had grown to over twenty, and every single one ofthem who still lived locally had shown up. A few no longer lived in the area, but Greg had already reviewed what he had with them over the phone and had gotten their responses.
Greg shook hands with each person present, calling them by name. Then he took a seat at the end of the table, and everyone else sat as well. Mark came in once it was quiet and took a chair against the wall near Steven.
“I’ll get right to the point. We filed suit months ago, and the college complied with our discovery requests. And while there were concerns voiced about Bates, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that the college was aware of his behavior or tried to cover it up. However, they did harbor him and should have been monitoring his behavior and providing a safe environment for all their students and athletes. To that end, and after much back and forth, they have put forth a settlement agreement.” Greg lifted his gaze before he continued just to make sure there were no questions. “Okay. First, they are not admitting any wrongdoing, but they have agreed to a settlement that amounts to a hundred thousand dollars for each athlete who was treated inappropriately. In addition, they agreed to develop and implement a sexual abuse education program for all faculty and staff, as well as one to help students understand what to do if they are mistreated or believe that they may have been.”
“What about Bates?” someone asked.
“His employment ended in early June, and he is awaiting trial. With the number of people affected, and the fact that he has threatened to flee, he is currently in the county jail in Gettysburg as he awaits trial. Bail that had been grated was revoked a month ago.”
“What about anyone else who might come forward?” Connors asked.
“The college has set up an abuse assistance fund. That is what the payments will come out of, and additional money will be set aside in case of future claims.”
Steven stood. “When I first came forward, I told Greg that I wasn’t interested in money. That what I wanted was for Bates to be removed so others wouldn’t go through what I did. And that’s happened. I know that in light of other awards in other situations, the amounts may seem small, but Adams is stepping up to try to make this right and to give each of us the resources we need so we can get help if warranted and so we can move on with our lives, and that is what I plan to do.” He sat down.
“What about if the college did try to cover it up and we haven’t found it?” a person asked from the back.
Greg nodded. “I made that a condition of the settlement. If evidence is found or comes to light that Adams did know or covered up what Bates was doing, then the college is once again open to litigation. Also included in the agreement are protections for any of the athletes who are still enrolled at Adams.” Greg had made sure the penalties for any sort of retaliation were severe. He looked through the room, with most of the men nodding slowly. “If you wish to accept this settlement, then I have copies for each of you to sign.” He passed them out and waited as, one by one, the athletes signed the agreements and brought them to Greg before leaving the room.
