Former Logan Municipal Schools teacher and coach Rhyan Daugherty received a $175,000 payout in a recent settlement of his whistleblower lawsuit against Logan Superintendent Dennis Roch.

The Quay County Sun received a copy of the 10-page settlement and general claims release agreement, signed by Daugherty on March 29, through an open filing request to Roch.

Parties to the agreement include Roch, Daugherty, the Logan School Board, the New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority, and all former and current officials, administrators, and employees of the authority and school district, including Logan Dallas Valentine’s teacher, who was a defendant in the first lawsuit. was filed in 2017.

Roch declined to comment on the settlement in an email last week.

Among the conditions:

• Daugherty would receive three awards of $58,333 for non-economic damages, totaling $175,000;

• A release of the claims to Daugherty and Valentine;

• A waiver of any future class action lawsuits;

• Daugherty would be responsible for any reimbursement to insurance companies related to the incident;

• Dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice, ie it cannot be reintroduced;

• An affirmation that no further legal action will be taken;

• Collection of allowances and possible leave;

• No disclosure of Logan School District proprietary or confidential information by Daugherty;

• No reinstatement or future employment of Daugherty with Logan.

Daugherty’s attorney, Warren Frost of Logan, previously declined to provide details of the settlement, citing a confidentiality clause.

However, after learning that the Quay County Sun had obtained the settlement document, Frost said Thursday that one-third of the $175,000 payment, or $58,333, was paid by the Logan School District and the remainder by the state insurance authority.

On April 25, District Judge Donna Mowrer of Portales dismissed Daugherty’s lawsuit against Roch with prejudice. Frost said the case was settled after Mowrer ordered the two parties to hold a settlement conference.

In a May 2021 trial that ended in a hung jury, Frost had asked for $192,730 in estimated salary after Daugherty was fired in April 2017, plus $300,000 for emotional distress. The jurors voted 9-3 in favor of Daugherty – one of his victory in court.

Daugherty had accused Roch of improperly firing him under pressure from Valentine and others after Daugherty reported an allegation that he heard she was having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

New Mexico State Police investigated and found no evidence that such a relationship took place.

The lawsuit claimed that Valentine and her husband Jimmy Valentine spent months harassing Daugherty, undermining him with school employees, and demanding that Roch fire Daugherty.

Frost argued in court that Daugherty’s fate was decided at a January 2017 school board meeting attended by Valentines and Logan breeders Jay Cammack, who directed their anger at Roch and Daugherty.

“It was the night Mr. Daugherty was fired,” Frost told the jury. “He got fired because Mr. Roch decided to save his neck instead of protecting his employee.”

Daugherty was informed on April 19, 2017, that he would not be rehired for the next school year.

Roch’s attorneys at the trial said Daugherty was fired because his students showed poor academic progress during his two years with the district.

Frost countered in court, noting that Daugherty had “effective” and “very effective” ratings that were submitted to the New Mexico Department of Public Education the same year he was fired.

Last month, the school district of Olney, Texas, hired Daugherty as their women’s basketball coach, and he persuaded Caleb King, Melrose’s recently deceased women’s basketball coach, to coach him. deputy.

King’s Lady Buffaloes beat Daugherty’s Lady Longhorns in the women’s basketball final 48-47 in 2016.