Kennesaw State cheerleader punished for kneeling awarded $145,000

Bret Gibson
Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019 11:05 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019 11:05 p.m.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Five Kennesaw State University cheerleaders take a knee during the national anthem prior to a college football game against North Greenville, in Kennesaw, Ga. Kennesaw State University’s decision to remove its cheerleaders from the field after they protested police brutality during the national anthem has cost Georgia taxpayers $145,000 in a legal settlement. Former cheerleader Tommia Dean will get $93,000 of the award, with the rest going to her attorneys. The Marietta Daily Journal obtained a copy of the settlement Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, through an Open Records Act request.

A former Kennesaw State cheerleader who kneeled during the national anthem in 2017 was awarded $145,000 in a lawsuit settlement.

Tommia Dean filed the lawsuit in 2018 when the cheerleaders took on criticism from their public protest over police brutality before a game in Georgia. The school responded by ordering the cheerleaders to stay out of view before several subsequent games began. They were allowed back onto the field during the anthem when the University System of Georgia determined their protests were protected by the U.S. Constitution.

“Before we went out on the field, we all prayed,” Dean told 11 Alive at the time of the protest. “Together, we all prayed. I felt like this was something I needed to do here, in Cobb County, as a Kennesaw State cheerleader.”

Congrats to Tommia Dean and the cheerleaders for kneeling and then standing strong against the good ole Cobb boys! ?

We're proud of them & proud of the work KSUnited and the activist community in Cobb have done to stand against the good ole Cobb boys!?https://t.co/1QsTZqXDkn

— Kennesaw United (@KennesawUnited) December 7, 2019

The out-of-court settlement ends Dean’s litigation against former KSU president Sam Olens. Her lawsuit claimed Olens was pressured to punish the cheerleaders by Cobb County Sheriff Neal Warren, among others. A federal judge dropped Warren as a defendant, finding no evidence of racial animus.

Dean will receive $93,000 of the settlement with the rest going to her lawyers, according to The Marietta Daily Journal.

The Georgia Department of Administrative Services is paying the settlement, according to the newspaper’s report on the agreement.

Bret Gibson is a TribLive digital producer. A South Hills resident, he started working for the Trib in 1998. He can be reached at bgibson@triblive.com.