A fired Woodbury High School girls' basketball coach has won his reputation back, eight years after filing a defamation lawsuit claiming a disgruntled parent's lies cost him his coaching job and imperiled his career as a kindergarten teacher.
"It's been hard for me to swallow, being a member of this district for 23 years and having one person torpedo everything," Nathan McGuire said Tuesday of his long ordeal. "Hopefully, this will prevent other coaches from [experiencing] similar situations."
Just as jury selection was about to begin Monday in Washington County District Court, defendant Julie Bowlin agreed to settle the case, handing over a $50,000 life insurance policy and signing a three-page letter detailing the lies she had spread about McGuire.
McGuire's attorney, Donald Chance Mark Jr., said his client will attach Bowlin's letter to applications for coaching jobs — ideally in the South Washington County Schools district where he teaches.
Long before the settlement, the case had led to a landmark ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2019 that high school coaches aren't public figures under the First Amendment, so parents aren't protected when making false claims against them.
The court said decisions about playing time and benching players aren't protected because they're not core functions of government. "Simply, basketball is not fundamental to democracy," the ruling said.
The saga started more than a decade ago in Richfield, where Bowlin's daughter played for...
You don't have permission to access "http://biz.chosun.com/en/en-policy/2026/05/13/2HN2WQNDIBDIHAYG2WCLNSLBYU/" on this server. Reference #18.9e033817.1778664023.2326d3f https://errors.edgesuite.n...