Texas Southern Coach Wins $700,000 in Retaliation Case

A jury in federal court in Texas awarded over $700,000 to Surina Dixon, a former coach at Texas Southern University who had sued the school for retaliation and discrimination in violation of Title IX and other law.



As we noted when the case was first filed, Dixon claimed that she fired her from the head women's basketball coach position to which she had recently been hired after she insisted on parity in the terms of her employment contract, noting specifically that a recently-hired men's basketball coach with less experience than Dixon received a longer contract and higher salary. She had also complained that TSU glossed over gender inequities in its NCAA Gender Equity Self-Study.

Retaliation Case Against Texas Southern University Dismissed

Last week a federal court in Texas dismissed a former coach's claims that he was fired by Texas Southern University in retaliation for his Title IX advocacy. Cummings alleged that one week prior to his termination, he met with Athletic Director and raised concerns about the comparatively lower number of assistant coaches allowed for the women's basketball, as well as a lower budget for recruiting and operating costs, and the absence of an appointed Title IX Coordinator and Senior Women's Administrator. Though these facts created an inference of retaliation, TSU overcame this inference with evidence that they fired Cummings because of his team's poor win-loss record and low academic success indicators. None of Cummings's evidence rebutted TSU's claims that its reasons for firing him were legitimate. The only evidence that his advocacy and termination were related was the fact that they happened close in time, but this circumstantial evidence, without more, was not enough to survive summary judgment.

Though this case was dismissed, another former TSU women's basketball coach's retaliation cases remains pending. You may recall Surina Dixon, who was hired to be Cummings's successor. She held the job for just a couple of months before she was terminated, allegedly for questioning TSU's decision to pay her half as much and on a shorter contract term than the newly-hired men's basketball coach. Dixon's case remains pending and dispositive motions have been filed. I expect we'll be hearing more about that TSU case in the near future.

Cummings v. Texas Southern University, 2011 WL 1750697(S.D.Tex. May 06, 2011).

Retaliation Case Filed Against Texas Southern University

Another coach has sued her former employer alleging that she was fired in retaliation for speaking out against Title IX violations.

Surina Dixon has sued Texas Southern University, alleging that they fired her from the head women's basketball coach position to which she had recently been hired after she insisted on contract terms equivalent to that of the newly hired men's basketball coach. Specifically, she protested the one-year contract she was awarded, pointing out that the men's basketball coach who had less coaching experience than Dixon had a five year contract and a salary twice as high as hers. She further pointed out that TSU's NCAA Gender Equity Self-Study had revealed this to be part of a pattern of discrimination against female coaches. Moreover, she argues, the fact the Athletic Director justified the one-year contract term by telling her she had to "prove herself" bolsters her claim of a sexist double standard.

Dixon alleges that the Athletic Director fired her based on her rejection of the employment contract offered by the university. Dixon insists that she did not reject the agreement, she protested its discriminatory terms, and is thus protected against retaliation under Title IX. She has sued to recover lost wages and other nonmonetary damages.