MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe’s lawyers have said they expect to file a lawsuit on Wednesday against the Vikings.
In May 2013, Kluwe went public with his belief that the team cut him because he was so vocal in support of same-sex marriage, and his claim that special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer made homophobic comments to the players.
After Kluwe’s claims surfaced publicly in a Deadspin article he wrote, the Vikings team launched a six-month investigation and concluded there was no evidence Kluwe was released for anything other than football-related reasons.
Kluwe and his attorney Clayton Halunen are hoping a court rules otherwise. The two say they are upset that the Vikings chose not to release a 150-page report put together by independent investigators after interviewing several witnesses. The team released a 29-page summary.
Priefer has been suspended for three games for making one inappropriate comment.
Kluwe hopes to get the whole report in court proceedings, along with $10 million. He says this money is for past and future earnings, emotional distress and defamation of character.
He said he would donate some of the money to LGBT causes.
Kluwe also started a petition on change.org to keep this discussion going. He had more than 28,000 signatures before noon on Wednesday from people who support the Vikings team releasing the entire 150-page document.
The Vikings did not return WCCO’s request for an interview, but have said in the past the team hasn’t broken any promises to Kluwe about what the team would or would not release.
Kluwe has said he feels is this battle goes to court it could drag on for years and expects that will keep other teams from signing him, but the 32-year-old is staying in shape in hopes of continuing on in his football career.
Source: CBS Minnesota
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