High school coach who was fired for praying with players wins $1.7 million settlement.

The Bremerton School District in Washington State unanimously decided to accept the award, which would see former coach Joseph Kennedy get a hefty $1,775,000 (£1,450,973, AUD$2,651,865) settlement amount.

Kennedy has been given permission to return to Bremerton High School in 2023 as an assistant football coach..

According to a statement from the district, Kennedy will also get a stipend of $5,304 for his time spent working on the 2023 football season.

The school community is eager to put this nearly eight-year legal battle behind them so that they can focus on what really matters: giving our students the best education possible, according to school board president Alyson Rotter.

After being fired from the organization, the coach has received two pieces of good news. The first is the agreed compensation.

When the Supreme Court ruled in his favor by a vote of 6-3 in June, he experienced his first taste of justification.

The court decided that he had the constitutional right to kneel next to student athletes and pray on the field following games.

Kennedy said following the verdict that it’s fantastic to know he done nothing wrong. Everything he did was satisfactory. Every time he played football, whether he won or lost, he vowed to thank God. And that was how he started, the speaker continued.

In 2008, Kennedy began working as a coach at Bremerton High School. At the end of games he started praying alone on the 50-yard line. Gradually, students began to follow him. He also launched a brief inspirational speech with spiritual overtones and led them in prayers in the locker room.

Years went by without a problem until 2015, when the school board was made aware of claims that certain athletes felt pressured to take part. He stopped, but he kept praying on the field after the game.

Because he disobeyed district regulations, he was put on a paid vacation and was not rehired for the next season.