EX-SE ASSISTANT FILES DISCRIMINATION SUIT

Former Southeast Missouri State University assistant basketball coach Randy Curl has filed a race discrimination lawsuit against the school's Board of Regents, stemming from his 1997 firing.

Curl, who is black, filed the petition in Cape Girardeau District Court last Friday. In the petition, he also names as defendants Kenneth Dobbins, Southeast's executive vice president of financial affairs; and Alicia Scott, Southeast's assistant athletic director in charge of compliance.

In the suit, Curl asks for unspecified punitive damages..."in such sum as will deter defendants from engaging in similar unlawful conduct in the future."

The suit asks that Curl be compensated for lost wages and benefits and for any future loss of wages and benefits. It also asks for compensation for Curl's "pain, anguish, mental distress, embarrassment and humiliation," along with compensation for attorney's fees.

Curl claims that the school's action against him has contributed to his failure to secure another job in his field.

Curl, an assistant basketball coach at Southeast for 10 years, did not have his contract renewed when it expired in June of 1997 because of an ongoing NCAA investigation of Southeast's men's basketball program.

Southeast head men's basketball coach Ron Shumate was fired in May of 1997 in the midst of that same NCAA investigation. The investigation later concluded that it found violations in the areas of extra benefits, recruiting, financial aid, institutional responsibility and ethical conduct. Southeast's men's basketball program was placed on three years probation.

In addition to Shumate's firing and the contract of Curl not being renewed, assistant coaches Scott McCowan and Kirt Cochran resigned as a result of the investigation.

During the course of the investigation, the suit claims that Curl was falsely accused of having stolen certain funds paid to students for work in connection with the basketball program and for having falsified records and documents relating to the alleged theft.

The suit claims that the defendants used the above accusations to procure the criminal investigation and ultimate prosecution of Curl by the office of the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney.

In October of 1997, Curl was charged with felony stealing. He was ultimately acquitted.

Curl, the lone black among the four Southeast coaches at the time of the investigation, claims in the suit that the defendants did not procure criminal charges against the other coaches, although they were involved in the same initial investigation. Curl also claims that the defendants allowed the other two assistant coaches to resign rather than be involuntarily terminated.

Curl could not be reached for comment. His attorney, W. Edward Reeves of the Edward-Reeves Law Firm in Caruthersville, said he did not want to comment. Diane Howard, Southeast's legal counsel, is on vacation and not available for comment.

Curl's petition marks the second lawsuit filed against the university by a former coach in the past two months. Shumate filed a suit in mid-February against the Board of Regents and Dobbins for nearly $300,000 in specific damages. Shumate also seeks punitive damages.