Victory for Women's Athletics, and Another Challenge for Title IX

By Maddie Burton, Communications Intern

May 07, 2009

The triumphant ending of one legal battle for gender equity in athletics was followed closely by a new challenge in the continuing struggle for equal athletic opportunities for women and girls.

On April 2, a gender discrimination case filed by the parents of female athletes against the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) was settled, with the MHSAA agreeing to change their policies and pay $6 million in legal fees. Filed more than ten years ago, the lawsuit (filed by an organization the parents created, called Communities for Equity) alleged seven counts of discrimination; after out-of-court mediation of six points, the seventh and final discrimination charge, that of athletic seasons, was brought to trial.

This case demonstrates the continuing relevance of Title IX in defending women's and girls' athletic programs, which remain under attack -- in Michigan's case, by allowing the preferential treatment of boys' sports teams in athletic scheduling.

The parents, through Communities for Equity (CFE), argued that the law was violated by moving six out of twelve girls' sports, including basketball and volleyball, to non-traditional seasons, so that the Michigan girls' teams were not playing at the same time as other girls' teams around the country. This hindered their ability to play in interstate tournaments, effectively shutting them out of national rankings and honors, and limited their exposure to college recruiters and therefore college scholarship offers. Notably, not one of the boys' sports were moved to a nontraditional season. In 2001, the U.S. District Judge ruled for CFE, as did the Sixth Court of Appeals and finally the Supreme Court.

Each court in turn determined that MHSAA was discriminating against female athletes under Title IX, as well as under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and a Michigan state civil rights law. MHSAA has not only agreed to pay $6 million of CFE's legal fees, but was also compelled to arrange an equitable division of sports among the different seasons. All sports must now be placed in beneficial, or traditional, seasons, or there must be an equal split between girls' and boys' teams relegated to play in undesirable seasons.

In another Title IX development related to athletics, former University of Hawaii women's basketball coach Jim Bolla filed a Title IX complaint in U.S. District Court. Bolla contends that his recent dismissal as coach resulted from his insistence that the university equally fund the women's program he ran.

His suit argues that the university failed to comply with Title IX, specifying that "[t]he disparities between the men's basketball program and women's basketball program in terms of funding, available coaches, support staff, and other matters remained consistently unequal for Coach Bolla's tenure at UH despite his complaints and effort to obtain reasonable parity." "We must remain vigilant in our defense of Title IX and the opportunities it creates for girls and women," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "The outcome of the Michigan case is a victory in our struggle for equality in education and athletics, but violations of Title IX and weak enforcement of the law continue to threaten our progress."