Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

For educational purposes only.

Jury Sides with Former Coach
in Suit Against Baptist University

By the staff of the Associated Baptist Press
October 16, 2000 - Volume: 00-92


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) -- A jury has agreed with a former
coach that a Baptist-affiliated university did not renew her contract
because she sued the school, claiming sex discrimination and that
men and women's teams were treated unequally.

While a district judge has dismissed Anne Julian's claims of sex
discrimination at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo.,
a federal court in Kansas City said her dismissal was in retaliation
for filing suit.

Julian, a 1990 graduate of the school, was hired in 1996 to coach
volleyball and softball.
She filed a complaint with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Division in 1997, claiming she was
paid less and given fewer resources than male coaches.

In 1998 she also filed suit for sex discrimination. She left
the school after the university chose not to renew her contract
in May 1999.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan dismissed Julian's
claims of discrimination, breach of contract and hostile
work environment.


[Note: In actual fact, as reported by several other media
outlets, Julian herself dropped several of these claims
just before trail in order to focus on the retaliation
claim.]

The school's lawyer told the Kansas City Star that Julian
was dismissed because she mistreated players [that she did
not take her players out to celebrate and eat after losses
]
and acted unprofessionally by discussing her lawsuit with
students.

The jury awarded Julian $1,800 in lost wages and $75,000
for emotional anguish.


[Note:  Julian's salary for coaching the SBU Woman's
Volleyball team was, according to this figure, about $600
a month
.
The jury also found that Julian should be awarded attorney
fees
; although, the total fees were not made available at
the time of the trial.
]

University officials released a statement saying they "strongly"
disagree with verdict and plan to appeal.


Source Article: http://abpnews.com/abpnews/story.cfm?newsId=2388

                                        ©Associated Baptist Press


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 ~Top of Updates~    ~~Return to Welcome~~     ~How Can I Help?~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~