Fresno State women’s lacrosse players win appeal, Title IX case back to district court
Six members of a Fresno State women’s lacrosse team that was eliminated in October 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic scored a clear victory on Wednesday when an appeals court vacated a lower court order that denied class certification for a Title IX lawsuit.
The lacrosse players had sued the university in February 2021 for violating Title IX by depriving women student-athletes of equal opportunities and equal treatment and benefits, asking for the court to reinstate the program and require the university to treat it equally with its other sports programs while the case proceeds. The players in February 2022 asked the court to certify the case as a class action on behalf of all women student-athletes and future student-athletes at the university.
“The district court held the case could not proceed as a class action on behalf of all women athletes because it thought there was some sort of conflict between the women’s lacrosse players interests and the other women’s athletes,” said attorney Arthur Bryant, of the law firm Bailey Glasser.
“The Court of Appeals decision makes clear that’s not so, and says there’s no conflict between what the women from the lacrosse team are seeking and the other women athletes because they can’t control what the school does to get into compliance with Title IX, they can just force it to do so.”
Bryant said they would continue to fight for class certification in District Court on behalf of all female student-athletes and future student-athletes at the university. The plaintiffs are listed as Taylor Anders, Hennessey Evans, Abbigayle Roberts, Megan Walaitis, Tara Weir and Courtney Walburger.
The judge who made the original ruling, Anthony Ishii, has since retired.
Fresno State declined to comment on the ruling. At the time the lawsuit was filed in 2021, it stated: “The university stands behind its position that, as a result of state budget reductions and significant revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university had to make the difficult decision to eliminate three sports teams: men’s tennis, men’s wrestling and women’s lacrosse after this academic year.
“The Department of Athletics will ensure continued efforts toward Title IX compliance as a result of these reductions. The University is unable to comment any further in regard to matters involving pending litigation.”
Women’s lacrosse, which had a short 13-year tenure at Fresno State without much on-field success (it lost its first 44 games and finished with one winning season), was eliminated along with wrestling and men’s tennis, cutting its athletics department to a more sustainable 18 programs. The student-athletes impacted by the elimination of the three sports were able to maintain scholarship aid, if they chose to remain at the university, and contracts of the coaches were honored within the terms and conditions stated in those deals.
The university at that time projected the elimination of the three programs would save its cash-strapped athletics department around $2.5 million a year. It was facing a steep decline in revenue due to the pandemic, and athletics department staff had been through two rounds of furloughs and the elimination of some positions.