​On May 22, the Hattiesburg Public School District Board of Trustees approved a $25,000 settlement payment to the Mississippi High School Activities Association in a special-called meeting, thereby resolving a long-standing student-athlete eligibility dispute that originated in 2011. The Board authorized Hattiesburg Public School District Superintendent Robert L. Williams to settle Mississippi High School Activities Association v. Hattiesburg High School. The settlement comprises a $25,000 payment and a full and final settlement with mutual release signed by both parties.
The Hattiesburg American contacted Norman Pauli of Pauli Law Firm, which represents the school district, who indicated that he had recommended resolving the case at the May 22 meeting. Pauli, however, declined to comment for this story.
This settlement brings to a close a case that has spanned 15 years. In 2011, the MHSAA ruled that Tiaria Griffin, then a senior basketball star who had transferred from Lawrence County High School to Hattiesburg High School in the summer of 2011, would be ineligible for the upcoming season. The district ultimately paid $25,000 to resolve the MHSAA dispute related to Griffin’s transfer under the association’s special-inducement rule, which MHSAA claimed was triggered by a ninth-grade coach at Hattiesburg High School encouraging Griffin to transfer from Lawrence County.
Griffin and her mother, LaShannon Shay, maintained that the move to Hattiesburg was prompted by Shay accepting employment with the school district, not for athletic reasons. In 2011, Griffin, her brother Steven Griffin, and Shay sought a Temporary Restraining Order from the Forrest County Chancery Court, asking the court to prevent MHSAA from deeming Griffin ineligible until a full hearing could proceed. Hattiesburg High School described MHSAA’s eligibility ruling as arbitrary and capricious. The Forrest County Chancery Court granted a temporary restraining order and later vacated the penalties MHSAA had imposed.
On December 12, 2011, the Griffins filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to bar MHSAA from suspending the Hattiesburg High School girls’ basketball team through January 12, 2012. Griffin was permitted to participate in all games except two during that period. The injunction excluded Griffin from playing on December 13 and December 16, 2011. The preliminary injunction was extended on January 9, allowing Griffin to compete through February 6, and was extended again on February 6 to permit her to play through March 19. This second extension enabled Griffin to complete the remainder of the season, helping Hattiesburg High School advance to the state playoffs before falling in the state championship game on March 3, 2012. In that championship contest, Hattiesburg High School lost to Forest Hill, 62-60, with Griffin contributing 18 points in the defeat.
Following that period, Griffin continued her basketball career elsewhere, though the legal matter involving her eligibility had not yet been fully resolved. The latest development, culminating in the May 22 settlement, marks the formal resolution of the 2011 eligibility case. The settlement aligns with the interests of both parties, bringing closure to a dispute that has influenced Hattiesburg’s athletic programs for more than a decade.