Ollier v. Sweetwater Union High Sch. Dist., No. 12-56348 (9th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs filed a class action against Sweetwater, alleging unlawful sex discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq. Plaintiffs alleged that Sweetwater intentionally discriminated against female student athletes when they failed to provide equal treatment and benefits as compared to male athletes. On appeal, Sweetwater challenged the district court's grant of declaratory and injunctive relief to plaintiffs on their Title IX claims. The court concluded that Sweetwater has not fully and effectively accommodated the interests and abilities of its female athletes; the district court did not err in its award of summary judgment to plaintiffs on their Title IX unequal participation claim; and the court affirmed the grant of injunctive relief to plaintiffs on that issue. The court rejected Sweetwater's claims of evidentiary errors; the district court's ruling that plaintiffs have Article III standing and its decision to deny Sweetwater's motion to strike that claim were not error; plaintiffs stated a prima facie case of Title IX retaliation; the district court correctly could find that a coach was fired in retaliation for plaintiffs' Title IX complaints, not for any of the pretextual, non-retaliatory reasons that Sweetwater has offered; and the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting permanent injunctive relief to plaintiffs on their claims. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment and rejected Sweetwater's attempt to relitigate the merits of its case.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment granting declaratory and injunctive relief to plaintiffs in a class action suit brought in part pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, alleging (1) unequal treatment and benefits in athletic programs; (2) unequal participation opportunities in athletic programs; and (3) retaliation. The panel held that Sweetwater Union High School District and its administrators and board members did not fully and effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of female athletes and therefore the district court did not err in its award of summary judgment and injunctive relief to plaintiffs on their Title IX unequal participation claim. The panel held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by: (1) striking the proposed testimony of Sweetwater’s two experts because the record suggested that the testimony was based on, at best, an unreliable methodology; (2) excluding Sweetwater’s 38 untimely disclosed witnesses from testifying at trial because Sweetwater’s failure to comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26’s disclosure requirement was neither substantially justified nor harmless; and (3) declining to consider contemporaneous evidence at trial. The panel held that the student plaintiffs had Article III standing to bring their Title IX retaliation claim arising from the firing of the softball coach. The panel further determined that the district court did not clearly err when it found that: (1) plaintiffs established a prima facie case of Title IX retaliation; and (2) Sweetwater’s purported non-retaliatory reasons for firing the coach were pretextual excuses for unlawful retaliation. The panel held, therefore, that the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting permanent injunctive relief to plaintiffs on their Title IX retaliation claim.
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