The reaction of people on this site never ceases to amaze me. So Adams article is rubbish because of what exactly? Because it's poorly written (it's not), he has a lifelong agenda against UT as a Knoxville sports columnist (fallacious urban legend among UT fans that view any stated negativity towards UT as a sure sign of hatred against the vols), or because he is using his characteristic sarcasm to express dissatisfaction with the university taking the easy road and settling?
Adams did us all a great favor when he wrote his cutting article on Jamie Naughright back in February. It helped turn the tide of seemingly endless negativity towards the university in the early stages of the lawsuit generated media frenzy (which was the main battle tactic by the plaintiffs' lawyer team.
If you read through his sarcasm, you will see why he writes a scathing opinion piece quickly after the announced settlement: he recognizes (correctly) that the lawsuit was paper thin and there was a strong case to fight it to the bitter end.
I, for one, am in agreement with Adams 100% here. The University of Tennessee is a state institution and the state has a sales tax. Therefore, it is an institution partly funded by TN taxpayers. It also happens to be one of the most important representations of the state as a whole. Seeing as how I'm both a graduate of UT and a Tennessean, born and raised, I don't give a d@mn what the cost would be to fight this unsubstantiated lawsuit, if it truly does consist of nothing but "false accusations, as Jimmy Cheek stated, I would never want it settled.
But that's the problem with society. It's no longer about right or wrong, fact or fiction, justice or injustice. All that seems to matter in this litigious society today is perception and the size of the threat.
Now the state of Tennessee has enriched 8 contemptible, degenerate, reprehensible cleat chasing women and your run-of-the-mill pernicious team of personal injury lawyers to the tune of $2.5mil. That's likely to be around $250k for each plaintiff and half a million or more for the blood sucking lawyers. Personal injury settlements are also non-taxed, so if you think of it in terms in terms of income it's more like $325k to each plaintiff.
Based on my earned income out of college it would have taken me roughly 6 years of work to have earned that amount, maybe longer.
If this lawsuit was as frivolous as we all believed, the university just made a short-sighted and unacceptable decision to settle. Keep in mind that the buyout for both Fulmer and Dooley was likely more than the worse case estimate on legal costs had they not settled. Also, had the court ruled in the university's favor, they could have countersued for a frivolous suit (and would have had a strong case IMO) in an attempt to regain some of the legal costs.