The following article was written by Ashley Foster.
The University of California Davis and three former female students reached a settlement agreement on a Title IX complaint the students filed in 2003. The students alleged in their complaint that they were not given an opportunity to compete on a women’s wrestling team at UC Davis and were cut from the men’s team.
U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. ruled on the case in August, dismissing the students’ individual discrimination claims. However, the court found that between 1998 and 2005, the time period the plaintiffs were enrolled, the university did not show continual expansion of opportunities in athletics for the underrepresented sex. In that time period, junior varsity women’s water polo and women’s lacrosse teams were eliminated. As a result, the university failed to meet the burden of proof for prong two of the three-prong test for Title IX compliance.
The court was set to hear the damages phase of the trial this month. However, the parties reached a settlement agreement where the university agreed to pay $1.35 million to the attorneys of the former students to cover fees and costs of the lengthy litigation. Although the students’ individual discrimination suits were rejected, their lawyers are calling this a victory for Title IX and female collegiate athletes.
One reply on “Settlement Reached in University of California Davis Title IX Case”
The travesty in this case is the corruption in the courts and among money-grubbing lawyers. The women wrestler’s own attorneys allowed Judge Damrell to dismiss the jury and make a unilateral decision when he is a member of the famed Gallo Wine family who gives substantial amounts of money to UC Davis. He was obligated to disclose and recuse himsefl. Instead he curried a persnal favor to hi sfamily’s close business associates. UC DAvis Wine Making – The judge refused to even disclose this information! One of the defendent’s was the overseer of the Gallo Family Education TrustIt at UC Davis, discovered days after the case ended. Shame on Judge Damrell and shame on all the attonreys. As usual the attorneys walk with the money and their clients walk with the “moral victory.” Our legal system is broken.
http://articles.latimes.com/1997-04-20/news/mn-50691_1_gallo-family
LA Times at Time of Judge Damrell’s Federal Appointment
“Because the Gallos are my family and my clients, I’ll recuse myself from any cases involving their business dealings,” Damrell said.