Suit against Times tossed by judge

SEATTLE — A federal judge threw out a lawsuit against The Seattle Times on Monday that had been brought by two assistant coaches fired after a recruiting scandal at Chief Sealth High School in 2006.

U.S. District Judge James Robart of Seattle said Amos Walters and Laura Fuller failed to properly establish a claim that they had been treated unfairly because of their race during a Seattle School District investigation into whether they recruited players for the Chief Sealth girls basketball team. Walters and Fuller are black.

A Times investigation, published in February 2006, found that head coach Ray Willis and assistants Walters and Fuller recruited players for more than three years to the nationally ranked team, violating numerous amateur athletic rules. In four cases, parents told The Times, the coaches provided bogus lease agreements and offered addresses in West Seattle so the girls could establish residency in the Seattle School District without moving from the suburbs.

In their lawsuit, Walter and Fuller alleged that they were defamed by the news stories. Robart dismissed those claims earlier this year.