Editors: For a high resolution photo of the WCU women's gymnastics team, click here.

TLPJ Wins Injunction in Sex Discrimination Lawsuit Against West Chester University for Violating Title IX

Federal Court in Philadelphia Orders Immediate Reinstatement of WCU Women’s Gymnastics Team

TLPJ's Leslie Brueckner with Sharon McKee and Bill Hangley of Philadelphia's Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin. Photo by Jonathan Hutson.

A federal court in Philadelphia ordered West Chester University (WCU) to immediately reinstate its women’s gymnastics team on November 12, 2003, in response to a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) charging that the state university’s decision to eliminate its women’s gymnastics team in response to a budget crunch violates federal law. The class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on September 4, 2003, charging WCU with violating Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination by all educational institutions receiving federal funds. TLPJ has successfully sued several schools, including Brown University and two other Pennsylvania institutions – Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Temple University – for illegally discriminating against women in athletics.

"This is an enormous victory for WCU’s women gymnasts, for all other WCU women athletes, and for everyone who cares about gender equity in sports," said lead counsel Sharon McKee of Philadelphia’s Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin. "We are delighted that the federal court has ordered WCU to reinstate the women’s gymnastics team immediately and provide the team with coaching staff, full funding, and the necessary training facilities."

The Honorable R. Barclay Surrick heard testimony on plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction from September 29-October 6, 2003. The motion sought immediate reinstatement of the women’s gymnastics team pending a full trial on the merits. The court also heard argument on WCU’s motion to dismiss the case on the ground that private citizens have no legal right to sue to enforce the federal regulations implementing Title IX.

In a 31-page ruling that adopted all of the plaintiffs’ arguments, the federal court held that WCU’s decision to cut the gymnastics team violates Title IX’s three-part test for determining whether a university has provided "equal opportunities" for members of both sexes to participate in sports. The court ruled that WCU has failed this test because (1) women students at WCU comprise almost 61 percent of the student body but are offered less than 45 percent of the athletic opportunities; (2) the school has not demonstrated a "history and continuing practice" of expanding its women’s sports program over time because it has not added a women’s team for over a decade and then, adding insult to injury, decided to cut an existing women’s team; and (3) the school cannot claim that it has fully satisfied all existing female interest in sports because it cut a viable women’s team that was ready, willing, and able to compete. 

Judge Surrick concluded: "We are satisfied that [WCU has] failed to meet all three prongs of the accommodation test." The court also found that WCU has discriminated against women by spending less money on recruitment and coaching of female athletes than on male athletes. In so ruling, Judge Surrick emphasized that WCU had ignored the advice of its own internal gender equity committees, which had warned that the school’s treatment of its female athletes violated Title IX.

The court also rejected WCU’s argument that private citizens have no legal right to file suit to enforce Title IX’s three-part test. Title IX, the court ruled, clearly creates a private right of action to sue for intentional discrimination, and "[WCU’s] decision to eliminate the women’s gymnastics team was an intentional act based on gender. It was also a decision that was intentionally made after WCU was put on notice that eliminating the women’s gymnastics team would put it at odds with Title IX." The court observed that "WCU could have heeded the warning of its internal committees and avoided this problem. WCU intentionally made the decisions that brought them to this courtroom, knowing full well the potential implications."

"This decision will force WCU to honor its legal obligation to provide equal competitive opportunities to its female students," said co-counsel William T. Hangley of Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin. "Now these outstanding women athletes will get the opportunity to compete that they were promised and that they deserve."

WCU announced its decision to cut the women’s team in April 2003, citing budgetary concerns. This decision shocked the team members, who were anticipating a full competitive season in 2003-04. At the same time, WCU announced that it had decided to cut men’s lacrosse, also citing budgetary reasons. The court found that WCU’s simultaneous elimination of a men’s team did not provide any defense under Title IX because the school remained in violation of the three-part test for Title IX compliance. The court also rejected WCU’s argument that a budget crunch justified its decision to eliminate women’s gymnastics, stating that "the public interest demands that WCU comply with federal law and in this instance that means compliance with Title IX."

"I’m thrilled to be able to represent my university again, and to have a part in saving the future of women’s gymnastics at WCU," said team co-captain Stephanie Herrmann, a WCU senior who won recognition as the Eastern College Athletic Conference’s (ECAC’s) Women’s Gymnastics Rookie of the Year in 2001. "My entire life has been devoted to gymnastics, and it has provided me with the kind of discipline, drive, and ability to work as part of a team that will serve me for the rest of my life."

Since the founding of the WCU women’s gymnastics team in the late 1800s, the team has compiled over 200 victories, has produced eight All American athletes, and has had two undefeated seasons. WCU gymnasts have won ECAC’s Division II "Rookie of the Year" award for the last four years, and the team broke three school records this past season. The court’s decision recognized this outstanding record, finding that the team members had demonstrated "impressive individual and team achievements" and a clear ability to provide "good and consistent" intercollegiate competition.

"We warned WCU that its decision to cut the team violated Title IX, but the school refused to listen," said TLPJ Staff Attorney Leslie A. Brueckner, co-counsel. "Now the court has proven our point. This ruling is on such solid legal ground that we will be surprised if WCU appeals."

In addition to McKee, Hangley, and Brueckner, the plaintiffs’ legal team includes TLPJ’s Rebecca Epstein and Adele Kimmel. The complaint and other key legal documents in the sex discrimination case, Barrett v. West Chester University, are posted on TLPJ’s web site, www.tlpj.org.

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Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is the only public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a network of more than 3,000 of the nation’s outstanding trial lawyers to pursue precedent-setting and socially significant litigation. TLPJ has a wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of consumer rights, worker safety, civil rights and liberties, toxic torts, environmental protection, and access to the courts. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization headquartered in Washington, DC, with a West Coast office in Oakland, California. The TLPJ web site address is www.tlpj.org. TLPJ’s Pennsylvania State Coordinator is Bernard W. Smalley, Sr., tel. 215-735-3864.