Kennesaw State University Cheerleader Awarded $145,000 In kneeling Lawsuit

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Kennesaw State University Student Settles Lawsuit For Kneeling During Anthem

Colin Kaepernick‘s kneeling during the national anthem in protest of social injustice and state violence against Black people inspired a nation of millions to kneel beside him in solidarity.

Like Kaep, some of those who knelt with him suffered consequences from higher ups who were made uncomfortable by seeing Black men and women speaking truth to power.

Enter now-former Kennesaw State University cheerleader Tommia Dean. According to the Marrietta Daily Journal, Dean filed a lawsuit against the Atlanta-area college claiming that Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren and former Republican state Rep. Earl Ehrhart persuaded then-president Sam Olens to keep the cheerleaders off the field during the National Anthem to kneecap their righteous protest. Dean sued all three white men for using racial motivations to violate the law and trample her rights.

Newly uncovered documents show that Dean’s lawsuit was recently settled when the Georgia Department of Administrative Services broke her off a check for $145,000.

“A compromise has been reached,” the agreement states. “The intent of this agreement is to buy peace of mind from future controversy and forestall further attorney’s fees, costs, or other expenses of litigation, and further that this agreement represents the compromise, economic resolution of disputed claims and, as such, shall not be deemed in any manner an admission, finding, conclusion, evidence or indication for any purposes whatsoever, that the KSU defendants acted contrary to the law or otherwise violated the rights of Dean.”

Of that $145,000 reward, $93,000 of that goes to Tommia personally, the other $52,000 is set aside to pay all her lawyer fees.

Back in February, a judge dismissed the sheriff and the then-president saying there was no proof of racial animus. That decision was appealed in regards to the sheriff and remains an ongoing legal matter.

Shoutout to Tommia Dean for standing HER ground.