Former McKeesport football assistant coach files discrimination complaint against district

One of the three McKeesport High School football assistant coaches let go last month has filed a discrimination complaint against the district. 

Until last month, math teacher Nick LoNigro had been a four-year assistant coach for the high school's football team. Like the three others who were let go, he is also a life-member of the Church of Life in Christ, a church embroiled in controversy after one of its members, Isaac Smith, was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Karli Short. 

In a complaint now filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, LoNigro argues he was let go because of his religious affiliation with the church in violation of his constitutional rights. 

Last month, the district terminated LoNigro, two other assistants and head coach Matt Miller — all members of the church. The moves came over the objections of board member David Donato, who agreed they were being dismissed on religious grounds. 

At the trial, church members came out in support of Smith, and one of the assistant coaches and the head of the booster organization testified as character witnesses for Smith.  

Karli Short's father, McKeesport football great Brandon Short, said that they used the credibility of the football program to vouch for someone who would be convicted of murder, and he said Matt Miller did nothing to distance the program from their testimony. 

"No one separated the program and the school from what those men said on the stand," Brandon Short told KDKA-TV last month. "And when the head coach doesn't speak, the silence gets filled. It reads like McKeesport football does support Isaac Smith, who killed my daughter."  

The board named assistant coach Tom Smith as the new head coach. Tom Smith is the brother of George Smith, who many consider the best head football coach in McKeesport High School's history. Brandon Short supported the move, calling it the "best outcome" for the program. 

It's unclear at this point whether Matt Miller and the other assistants will also file complaints.