Illinois School District Agrees to Equal Treatment for Girls Sports

We've blogged a few times about the Title IX lawsuit against Canton (Illinois) School District No. 66 (see here, here and here). The school district was charged the school with discriminating against girls' athletic teams in funding and support. The parties have reportedly entered into a settlement agreement that ensures girls' teams have equal access to practice facilities, lockers, and funding.

The plaintiffs had also claimed that the school district discriminated against girls teams by only deploying band and cheerleaders to boys games. The press I've read about the settlement agreement does not address this issue.

Settlement forthcoming in Canton case

After turning down a settlement deal earlier this year, it seems the Canton School District in Illinois has reached an agreement with the plaintiffs. But no one is saying what that deal is--at least not until January 20, 2010 when it will be announced at a school board meeting. The deal was scheduled to be revealed last week, but on the advice of a district lawyer, the board held the announcement.
As a reminder, here are a few of the allegations from the original complaint filed in May 2009:

• football and boys' basketball have better sound systems
• the band, cheerleaders and other spirit squads attend boys' games, but not girls
• district funding is not equitably distributed
• and that there are inequities in equipment and locker rooms.

Illinois high school lawsuit ongoing

In Canton, IL a lawsuit brought by two parents alleging inequities between the girls' sports program and the boys' program remains unsettled. Mediation had been ongoing but the school board rejected this week the proposed settlement and thus litigation remains pending with a trial scheduled for May 2010.
According to a source the proposed terms included moving some girls' basketball games and practices to an off-site gym (which I assume is a better facility though this facility is never explained) and designate girls' locker rooms at this site as well. Eventually all girls' games would be played at the site.
Samuel Schiller, lawyer for the two parents, said he did not know why the board turned down the settlement. The superintendent only said they did not feel it was in the best interest of the district or the two girls. [Well it's actually supposed to be in the best interest of the girls' program generally--not just the two girls (and their parents) who sparked the lawsuit.]
Schiller was also, as we mentioned in a previous post about the Canton lawsuit, the lawyer for a similar case in Lewiston, IL. As Schiller mentions about Canton's refusal to accept the terms of mediation, continuing mediation and preparation for trial will only cost the district more money. It was recently revealed that the Lewiston case cost the district $102,000. The district tax levy was raised to cover the costs of that lawsuit (which ended in a settlement).
The school board is not set to take up the Canton lawsuit anytime soon. We may be into 2010 before we hear more about this case.

Lawsuit Filed Against Canton School District

Students and parents in Canton, Illinois, have sued School District No. 66 over alleged Title IX violations. Their complaint maintains that the district discriminates against girls' athletics in the scheduling practice times and times, and by providing equipment -- like sound systems -- and facilities -- such as locker rooms -- that are inferior to those provided for boys' athletics. Additionally, the plaintiffs charge that the district discriminates in the support and publicity for girls games by deploying the band, cheerleaders, and pompom squad to boys' games but not girls' games.

Canton is in the same county as Lewistown, whose school district settled a similar lawsuit in 2008, resulting in the upgrade of softball facilities there.

High School Coach Litigation Roundup

Several basketball coaches challenging discrimination in high school athletics have made news recently.

Lamar Bryant, fired from his position as head coach of the Marshall High School boys basketball team in Chicago recently settled his wrongful termination/retaliation suit against the Chicago Public Schools. As we noted last fall, Bryant's federal lawsuit alleged that his female athletic director discriminated against him and the boys' basketball team. Bryant will receive $500,000.

In Franklin County, Indiana, girls basketball coach Amber Parker is gearing up to sue the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Association over the Friday night schedule issue we blogged about recently. She is looking for a lawyer to help her bring the case.

And Linda Wachter, formerly the girls' basketball coach at Exeter Union High School in California, is continuing to press her claim that the school district fired her in retaliation for her complaints that the athletic department was discriminating against her team by, among other things, denying them access to priority practice times and access to facilities. (We blogged about this case when it was filed in September.) The court recently dismissed her other sex discrimination claims, but determined that the facts she alleged, if proven, would constitute retaliation. The court is now in the processing of scheduling a trial or alternative resolution.

Horseplay or Sexual Harassment?

Under Title IX, schools must take reasonable steps to students from sexual harassment by other students. When applying this standard, courts are sometimes called upon to distinguish sexual harassment from other form of bullying, teasing, roughhousing, or horseplay that aren't motivated by the sex or gender characteristics of the victim. A federal district court in Illinois recently had to make this call with respect to a practice called "sac stabbing" (getting hit in the testicles) which was inflicted on the plaintiff, a 12-year-old boy, by his teammates and peers, on an ongoing basis and with the apparent knowledge of the coach and other authority figures. The abuse exacerbated an existing medical condition, causing the plaintiff to require surgery. Even that didn't stop the abuse -- post-surgical incidents of sac stabbing popped the plaintiff's stitches.

In denying the school's motion to dismiss, the court concluded that sac stabbing in this case was sexual harassment actionable under Title IX because the facts supported a conclusion that the school's failure to protect the plaintiff from ongoing abuse was rooted in gender stereotypes. According to the complaint, the school allowed the abuse to continue based on the stereotypical perception that he was "not man enough" and that the school “essentially told [plaintiff] to toughen up and stop acting like a little girl,” to “stick up for himself.”

This decision underscores that there are a variety of ways peer harassment may contains the requisite sexual component to fall under Title IX's protection. Some focus on the abuser's motivation -- such as harassment or bullying motivated by sexual desire, the gender nonconformity of the victim, or the victim's sex directly -- while other's focus on the school's response. Regardless whether the underlying harassment is sexual harassment or asexual horseplay, a school must extend boys the same protection against harassment as it does girls; it cannot use stereotyped notions of masculinity to justify indifference to an ongoing problem.

Decision is: Doe v. Brimfield Grade School, 2008 WL 1722225 (C.D. Ill. Apr. 10, 2008)

Illinois Students and Parents Sue School District Over Discrimination in Athletics

The Canton (Illinois) Daily Ledger reported yesterday on a federal lawsuit filed by parents and students against the Lewistown Community School District. The complaint alleges that the district is in violation of Title IX for discriminating against female athletes in the distribution of funding, equipment, and other resources. Most of the examples of discrimination described in the article relate to benefits and advantages afforded to high school male baseball players but denied to high school female softball players. For instance, the district scheduled 33 baseball games this season but only 23 softball games. Boys received new uniforms but girls had to fundraise for theirs. In contrast to the baseball field, the softball field is not regulation size, has deteriorating and inferior fences, lighting, and backstop, and does not have a reliable, working scoreboard.

Notably, the Lewistown plaintiffs are represented by Attorney Sam Schiller and Professor Ray Yasser of the University of Tulsa Law School, who also represented the plaintiffs who successfully settled a similar case against Ponco City (Oklahoma) Public Schools recently and who have brought other similar cases in Oklahoma and the Midwest.