Home News Report: Kluwe and Vikings reach settlement

Report: Kluwe and Vikings reach settlement

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Report: Kluwe and Vikings reach settlement

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Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and his attorney say he has reached a settlement with the team over his firing which he said was based on his support for LGBT rights.

On Friday evening, Kluwe tweeted:

“The parties intend to hold a joint press conference early next week to make public the terms of a settlement arrived at late last night,” Kluwe’s lawyer, Clayton Halunen, told USA Today Sports.

“Hopefully, this will be closure and everyone can move on to do bigger and better things.’’ Kluwe told the Pioneer Press. “There will be more details next week,” said Kluwe, who didn’t offer specifics but said he will be in the Twin Cities for the press conference. “We’re still getting some things arranged.’’

The Vikings note, however, that nothing has been put into writing.

“Conversations are ongoing and nothing has been finalized,” Vikings lawyer Kevin Warren told the Pioneer Press.

Kluwe threatened to sue the Vikings for discrimination after he was let go in 2013. Kluwe alleged that some in the Vikings management engaged in homophobic behavior and that he lost his job because of his outspoken support of LGBT rights. The Vikings initiated an outside investigation and released a partial report showing that special teams coach Mike Priefer said, “round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.” The Vikings have declined to release the full report, and a team of Minnesota legislators have begun pressuring the Vikings to increase the punishment of Priefer, who will be suspended for three games.

Kluwe and his attorneys are planning a press conference about the settlement on Monday or Tuesday.

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Andy Birkey has written for a number of Minnesota and national publications. He founded Eleventh Avenue South which ran from 2002-2011, wrote for the Minnesota Independent from 2006-2011, the American Independent from 2010-2013. His writing has appeared in The Advocate, The Star Tribune, The Huffington Post, Salon, Cagle News Service, Twin Cities Daily Planet, TheUptake, Vita.mn and much more. His writing on LGBT issues, the religious right and social justice has won awards including Best Beat Reporting by the Online News Association, Best Series by the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and an honorable mention by the Sex-Positive Journalism awards.