Fresno State has agreed to pay Diane Milutinovich $3.5 million to settle the former associate athletic director's sexual discrimination lawsuit against the university, lawyers for both sides announced Thursday afternoon.

A Fresno jury on July 9 awarded former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas $5,852,069 -- almost $2 million more than what she had asked for in her discrimination case against the university.

In the aftermath of a discrimination suit that cost Fresno State millions of dollars in damages, the university remains largely silent.

SACRAMENTO – Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, questioned the response by leaders at CSU Fresno to a $5.85 million settlement against the university in a sex discrimination suit filed by a former volleyball coach.

Two surprise witnesses took the stand Monday to dispute anti-gay accusations from earlier testimony in the civil trial between Fresno State and former volleyball coach Lindy Vivas.

July 11, 2007

In a civil trial that begins this week, former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas hopes to convince jurors her contract was not renewed in 2004 because of her outspoken advocacy for gender equity in university sports and for her "perceived sexual orientation."

The attorney representing former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas lambasted the university Thursday for what he described as more than a decade of hostility toward women in the athletic department and a culture of discrimination toward coaches rumored to be lesbians.

Seeking to derail the first of three suits filed by women alleging discrimination, a Fresno State attorney told jurors Monday that former volleyball coach Lindy Vivas was fired because her team had "plateaued" -- not because Vivas pushed hard for women's athletics or was rumored to be a lesbian.

Former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas said she was undermined by an athletic department official who met secretly with one of her players.

Lindy Vivas testified Wednesday she never was directly called a lesbian or overheard any conversations of homosexuality by Fresno State officials.

Lindy Vivas' trial turned contentious Thursday as lawyers from both sides became combative, particularly over the potential testimony from key witness Margie Wright.