9th Cir. Revives Title IX Suit By UC Davis Women Wrestlers
Three women wrestlers at the University of California at Davis scored a major victory today at the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed a federal district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants in a Title IX discrimination suit.
The women had sought permission to amend their earlier complaint asserting claims under Title IX (20 U.S.C. § 1681) and section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 after the dismissal of their case against the university. But the appellate panel rejected that request as moot after reinstating their original claims and remanding the case back to the district court in today’s written opinion (PDF).
At issue in the now-ongoing litigation is whether the university violated the rights of its women athletes by permitting them to wrestle only if they could compete successfully with men in the same weight class, under men’s wrestling rules. (Previously, they had only wrestled other women under international freestyle rules.) The district court did not reach the merits of this issue in the earlier litigation bout, but held that the plaintiffs should have given the university notice and an opportunity to cure the violation before proceeding.
Hat tip: Courthouse News Service.
Additional coverage:
Associated Press: “Appeals court chides UC Davis for axing women’s wrestling, reinstates gender equality lawsuit”
Updated at 7:30 p.m to link to Associated Press article.
