Equity in Athletics Litigation: Delaware State University
Settlement Agreement Approved in Title IX Lawsuit Against Delaware State University
(PDF version of 12/21/10 press release)
The settlement agreement in the Title IX Class Action lawsuit against Delaware State University (DSU) by members of its women’s equestrian team was approved at a fairness hearing on December 20, 2010. Fairness hearings are held at the conclusion of all class action lawsuits. The settlement was effectively reached on the eve of trial in October, when the parties agreed to terms aimed at achieving gender equity in its women’s athletic programs. Yesterday, the Court also awarded plaintiffs’ counsel $475,442.21 in fees and $22,241.90 in costs.
It has been almost one year since DSU announced the elimination of the women’s equestrian team in January 2010. After the announcement, the 15 team members sued the University for violating Title IX by failing to provide equal athletic opportunities and equal recruitment support for DSU women. The student-athletes filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, which was settled in April 2010 when the Court approved a consent order to extend the equestrian team until the end of the 2010-11 academic year. Settlement of the litigation in its entirety was reached on the eve of a trial scheduled to commence on October 18, 2010.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs, and specifically applies to athletic programs. Title IX requires equity in scholarships, accommodation of athletic interests and abilities, and treatment.
The settlement requires DSU to comply with Title IX’s requirements to provide equitable participation opportunities and recruitment support to women’s athletics. Under the terms of the settlement, DSU has agreed to:
- Comply with Prong 1 of Title IX’s participation requirements by providing varsity athletic opportunities for women that are substantially equal (within 2.5 percentage points) to the proportion of full-time female undergraduate students no later than June 30, 2013;
- Maintain the women’s equestrian team as a varsity sport with funding, staffing, and other benefits commensurate with its status as a varsity sport until DSU becomes compliant with Prong 1 of Title IX’s participation test, without including the number of equestrian team members in calculating compliance with Prong 1;
- Increase the allocation of funding for recruiting participants in women’s athletic teams over the next five years until DSU allocates the same amount of recruitment funds to women’s athletics as it allocates to men’s athletics beginning in the 2014-15 academic year;
- Provide plaintiffs’ counsel and the members and coaches of the women’s equestrian team advance notice of DSU’s intention to achieve Prong 1 compliance without the equestrian team members no later than November 30 of the academic year in which it expects to achieve compliance and the opportunity to verify and contest DSU’s compliance before eliminating the team;
- In the event DSU eliminates the equestrian team, provide athletic scholarships after the elimination of the equestrian team to those students who are members of the team as of the date the Court enters a consent decree memorializing the settlement terms for the duration of each eligible equestrian team member’s four-year undergraduate education; and
- Require all members of its Athletic Department, all varsity coaches and all varsity athletes to attend a Title IX training session to be conducted by a recognized expert from outside the DSU community.
DSU has agreed to provide documentation to allow plaintiffs’ counsel to monitor compliance.
The student-athletes are represented by Terry Fromson, Managing Attorney of the Women’s Law Project, Abbe Fletman of Flaster/Greenberg PC, and Joanne Pinckney of the Wilmington law firm, Pinckney, Harris & Weidinger, LLC.
Comprehensive Settlement Reached in Title IX Lawsuit Against
Delaware State University
Athlete: “The significance for the women on campus can’t be overstated.”
On October 22, 2010, a settlement was reached in a class action Title IX lawsuit filed against Delaware State University (DSU) by members of its women’s equestrian team. The parties filed a joint motion requesting that the United States District Court for Delaware preliminarily approve the terms of the settlement and schedule a fairness hearing for final approval. The settlement is aimed at achieving gender equity in an athletic program that has short-changed female athletes for decades.
 “Without the courage and passion of the young women who came forward to assert the rights of all women who attend DSU now and in the future, DSU women would not be getting the opportunities that come from this settlement," said Terry L. Fromson, managing attorney of the Women’s Law Project and co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "This settlement achieves what we set out to do – it assures long term gender equity in sports at DSU,” stated Abbe Fletman, a shareholder at the law firm of Flaster/Greenberg PC and co-counsel for plaintiffs. (PDF version of 10/22/10 press release available here.)
Court Certifies Class in Title IX Action Against Delaware State University
Fromson of Women's Law Project and Fletman of Flaster/Greenberg, PC Approved as Class Counsel
On July 12, 2010, a Federal Judge in the U.S. Court for the District of Delaware granted class action status to
a lawsuit filed by Delaware State University (DSU) equestrian team members suing DSU
for violating Title IX by eliminating the women’s equestrian team at the conclusion of the
2009-10 academic year and failing to provide equal athletic opportunities for female
students.
The Court certified a class of “all present, prospective and future DSU female
students, including currently enrolled students, students admitted for the 2010-11
academic year, and prospective students who participate, seek to participate, or have
been deterred or prevented from participating in or obtaining the benefits of,
intercollegiate athletics sponsored by DSU. The Court also approved the eight named
plaintiffs as representatives of the class, and designated Terry L. Fromson of the Women’s Law Project and Abbe F. Fletman of
Flaster/Greenberg PC and as class
counsel (Full Press Release).
On Eve of Preliminary Injunction DSU Agrees to Extend Equestrian Team for a Year
View video from
WHYY Program First (3/26/2010)
See March 8, 2010
Press Release on filing. |
On the eve of a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction filed by 15 members of Delaware State University’s women’s equestrian team, the university agreed to keep the team for another year. The students sought preliminary relief following the filing of their February 23, 2010 lawsuit asserting that the university violated its students’ rights under Title IX, the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs.
In their motion for a preliminary injunction to prohibit the elimination of the team pending the completion of the litigation, the students asserted that the university’s elimination of their team irreparably harmed both current and future members of the team who faced an immediate and difficult decision of whether to stay at DSU without the team that brought them there or to seek to transfer, an option seriously circumscribed by the timing of DSU’s decision to eliminate the team. The court order, which obligates the university to keep the team through the end of the 2010-11 academic year, providing it with funding, staffing, and other benefits commensurate with its status as a varsity intercollegiate team, assures the continuation of the team while the litigation continues to final resolution of the plaintiffs’ claims of gender discrimination. |
Delaware State University Varsity Equestrian Team Sues School for Reinstatement
Fifteen female student-athletes who are
members of Delaware State University’s women’s equestrian team, have filed a
class action suit challenging the university’s recently announced elimination of
their team at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 academic year. The student athletes,
represented by the Women’s Law Project and Flaster/Greenberg,
brought the lawsuit under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the
federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational
programs, and specifically applies to athletic programs. Title IX requires equity in
scholarships, accommodation of athletic interests and abilities, and treatment.
Plaintiffs charged Delaware State with violating Title IX by failing to provide its
female students with equal opportunity to participate in athletics and seek
immediate reinstatement of the equestrian team. Many of the team members
were recruited by Delaware State and gave up other opportunities and
scholarships to compete on its equestrian team. As plaintiff Amanda Hotz said, “the equestrian team was my sole reason for attending Delaware State and I
expected to ride for four years.”
The loss of the team leaves the students without the opportunity to participate on
the team that brought them to Delaware State in the first place. It also impairs
their ability of achieve their career goals of therapeutic training, coaching, and
other equestrian related fields. A hearing on plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary
injunction is expected in April.
“The
elimination of the equestrian team, a team added only four years ago for the
express purpose of addressing the university’s known non-compliance with Title
IX, only increases the existing inequality in athletic opportunity,” added Terry L.
Fromson, Esq. of Women’s Law Project. “The University has a long history of non-compliance with Title IX, and has
consistently failed to provide women with athletic opportunities in proportion to
their share of the full time student undergraduate student population, as
mandated by law,” said Abbe F. Fletman, Esq. of Flaster/Greenberg. (see PDF version of press release.) |
