The house at 52 Ware St. in Lewiston where Bates College put up former head football coach Malik Hall and his family, exposing three children to black mold, according to a lawsuit Hall has filed against the college. Lewiston Assessor’s Department photo
LEWISTON — Bates College and its former head football coach, Malik Hall, have settled a federal civil rights lawsuit he filed nearly two years ago accusing the school of racial discrimination and endangering his family members’ health by providing them a “mold-infested house.”
Malik Hall was let go in 2021 after three years as Bates College’s head football coach. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file
Though details of the settlement between Bates and its first Black football coach, who lost his job in 2021, remain sealed in paperwork released Sunday on the federal courts’ records website, it is possible to see the college has agreed to pay an unknown amount to three of Hall’s children related to mold exposure.
The settlement says nothing about claims of racism and other alleged mistreatment of Hall. The motion citing the settlement said the college and Hall “have resolved the claims asserted in this case in their entirety” with the payments to the three children.
“Bates College and Malik Hall and his family have mutually agreed to resolve their dispute,” Mary Pols, a spokesperson for the college, said Sunday.
In Hall’s initial lawsuit, his lawyer said there was a “widespread infiltration” of black mold in the house’s basement, and it had caused the youngsters “difficulty breathing and nose bleeds,” as well as long-term health problems.
The family lived at the house at 52 Ware St. after Hall was hired in 2018 to coach the college’s football team.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maine, had asked the court to order Bates to rehire Hall and compensate him and his family for the damages they suffered during the three years he served as head coach for the Bobcats.
It also asked the court to order Bates officials to cease “engaging in any employment practices that discriminate against persons on the basis of race,” “mail a letter to all employees notifying them of the verdict against them” and tell them Bates “will not tolerate race discrimination in the future.”
The settlement is silent on the alleged racism, Hall’s rehiring or any steps sought from the college, except for providing money for each of the three children in special accounts to be set up at a local credit union.
Bates has come under heavy criticism in the past from some who were unhappy with what they saw as mistreatment of Black employees. The issue has faded in recent times. The college hired its first Black president last year.
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