WARROAD, Minn. — A longtime winning hockey coach is vindicated after filing a defamation lawsuit against several parents who made wild accusations about him last year.
Those parents settled with Warroad's girls hockey coach David Marvin this week and will pay him $17,000 and admit they made false statements about him.
According to court documents, Marvin's legal team said the claims included sexual harassment and hazing that were repeated on social media and in a podcast interview for 10 months.
Marvin has coached the girls hockey team for 17 years and has won three consecutive state titles.
"You read these things of sexual harassment and bullying and whatever else he's accused of, just didn't make a lot of sense with the person that I've known for a long time," said Jess Myers, a hockey beat writer for The Rink Live who grew up playing the sport with Marvin.
Marvin's lawyers called the accusations a campaign to harm Marvin's reputation and get him fired.
"That to me is another example of this is no longer about my kids playing time, this is let's see if I can destroy someone's life," said Myers.
The school district had also launched an investigation back then, later expressing support for Marvin and discouraging parents from sharing false information about the program and staff.
The suit was settled this week and includes a $17,000 payment to Marvin and a $5,000 donations to Sophie's Squad, a non-profit that supports young athlete's mental health.
"Coaches all over the country have been watching this lawsuit to say this is one to win, to send the message that this is not ok," said Myers.
The settlement also includes an acknowledgement from the parents that their statements were untrue and they regretted the impact it had on Marvin and the hockey program.
Four parents didn't answer KARE 11 reporter Jennifer Hoff's phone calls and one said no comment. As for Marvin, he was playing in a golf tournament on Thursday and unable to conduct an interview but expressed relief this process was over.
