The Park City Education Foundation has voluntarily dropped a lawsuit it filed last year against Thomas Tanzer, the cofounder of the Bright Futures scholarship. Court documents do not indicate why the foundation moved to dismiss the lawsuit, and the organization’s attorneys had not responded to a request for comment as of Friday afternoon. However, a source close to Tanzer’s attorneys said the Park City Education Foundation was sent a copy of a countersuit in mid-February, with a request to engage in mediation to resolve the litigation. The request reportedly went unanswered, but the nonprofit unilaterally dropped its lawsuit a week later. Tanzer said he hopes settlement talks can continue and both sides can reach an agreement that allows each party to move forward with their mission to help students. The nonprofit filed the lawsuit in Summit County’s Third District Court late last year. The complaint claimed Tanzer, who cofounded the Bright Futures program in 2016, violated a settlement agreement restricting him from making negative comments about the organization after a falling-out between the two parties. Bright Futures was created to help low-income, first-generation Park City High School students prepare for and graduate from college with a four-year degree. The Park City Education Foundation last spring announced plans to modify the program to assist all first-generation students. The complaint did not indicate what caused the nonprofit and Tanzer to reach a settlement agreement. However, court documents filed earlier in 2025 showed Tanzer was charged with two misdemeanors — disorderly conduct and damaging or interrupting a communication device. The charges were dismissed in September, but one filing mentioned that contact with the Park City Education Foundation played a key role in the case. Park City Education Foundation CEO and President Ingrid Whitley in May later filed a petition with the courts accusing Tanzer of stalking. The filings came two days after coverage in The Park Record and KPCW regarding the changes to the Bright Futures program, which included comments from Tanzer about the “detrimental impact” of the proposal. The stalking case was dismissed on Aug. 14, the same day the Park City Education Foundation and Tanzer entered the settlement agreement, according to court filings. But the lawsuit filed last year claimed Tanzer violated the terms of the settlement agreement because he mentioned the foundation and the Bright Futures program in a Town Lift article on Nov. 1 and in a letter to the editor in The Park Record on Nov. 15. The lawsuit claimed he alluded to his displeasure with the changes to the Bright Futures program in both publications, as well as concerns about financial mismanagement. “These posts constitute not merely public comment, but public criticism and false characterization of the foundation and its Bright Futures program, which Tanzer expressly and unequivocally agreed to refrain from making,” the complaint said. “The foundation continues to fully honor its commitments to support existing Bright Futures students, while evolving the program to serve even more students. Any claims to the contrary are false and misleading.” The Park City Education Foundation “depends entirely on the trust and confidence” of donors and community members, the foundation said in the complaint. “Tanzer’s misleading public statements undermine the foundation’s reputation and ability to secure the funding necessary to continue serving Park City students,” the complaint said. “The harm to the foundation’s reputation and donor relationships is particularly severe given the public nature of Tanzer’s statements and his false characterization of the foundation’s operations and commitment to its programs.” The post Park City Education Foundation drops lawsuit against scholarship cofounder appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less