Montana State Settles Discrimination Case

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Montana State University has agreed to pay $120,000 to a former student who claimed school officials discriminated against him when they expelled him for allegedly threatening violence against a transgender student.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports news of the school’s settlement with Erik Powell comes the same week as the transgender student filed a lawsuit of her own against the school.

Powell denied making the statement against the student that was the basis of his expulsion. His attorney, Jesse Binnall, says MSU will erase the expulsion from his record.

Myka Perry claims in her lawsuit filed Monday that MSU discriminated against her by refusing to provide coverage for a second and third gender-affirming surgery.

MSU spokesman Michael Beck says neither party admitted wrongdoing in Powell’s case. He declined to comment on Perry’s lawsuit.

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Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com