WASECA — The family of a high school football coach killed in a collision in Waseca is taking its wrongful death lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Transportation to the state Supreme Court.

An attorney representing Fred Statz’s family filed a petition for further review after a state appeals court upheld a judge’s ruling blocking the lawsuit last month.

Twenty-five-year-old Statz collided with a semitrailer at an intersection in November 2012. He was coming from a banquet at Waseca High School, where he coached football.

Days before the collision, MnDOT converted the intersection from a four-way to a two-way stop.

Statz’s parents alleged the department was negligent in changing the intersection and that it was made more dangerous. The transportation department argued it had discretion to place signage as it chooses.

An appeals court agreed with a lower court that a MnDOT engineer who converted the intersection had official immunity.