Ex-Coach Niz Asked for $250K to Settle Lawsuit With City

The case was dismissed by jurors two years ago, but it wasn't until recently that some of the details were finally released in the litigation involving former Peabody High coach Ed Nizwantowski.

Nizwantowski apparently sought $250,000 in damages from the city, reports the Salem News, after he lost both his varsity football and baseball coaching jobs at in 2005.

Nizwantowski, a longtime coach who was both popular and successful, sued for age discrimination when two younger men were hired for those positions instead. He was 58 at the time.

The relevant minutes of School Committee executive sessions in which the case was discussed were finally released along with the minutes of other closed-door meetings, unrelated to this issue, after the Salem News filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office. The AG's office issued a ruling earlier this year that said the documents had to be released.

Nizwantowski had filed an initial complaint with the Mass. Commission Against Discrimination, followed up by a lawsuit that was finally dismissed in court in August 2010. The city argued age had nothing to do with the decision not to re-hire Nizwantowski; it was because of his repeated clashes and personality conflicts with high school administrators, particularly Athletic Director Phil Sheridan, and for two other incidents that school officials felt reflected poorly on Peabody.

While the lawsuit was pending, Nizwantowski ran for and won a seat on the Peabody School Committee in 2005, but lost his bid for re-election four years later, finishing behind both Tom Rossignoll and Jarrod Hochman.

The committee then voted in executive session in June 2010, reports the Salem News, to reject the proffered settlement from Nizwantowski and proceed with the case before a jury.