By Ellen Rugeley
A lawsuit against Slippery Rock University (SRU) filed by two female athletic officials has been settled, according to stipulations recently filed in U.S. District Court,.
The plaintiffs, Assistant Athletic Director Pearl Shaffer and longtime volleyball Coach Laurie Lokash claimed that they were victims of retaliation after testifying against Athletic Director Paul Lueken as part of a previous lawsuit against the university.
The previous lawsuit, Choike et al v. Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania of the State System of Higher Education et al was filed in the U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania in 2006. The plaintiffs, 12 female student-athletes and another coach sued the university for violating Title IX after announcing in January 2006 that it would be eliminating its women’s field hockey, swimming and water polo teams.
The plaintiffs were represented by the Women’s Law Project, a non-profit women’s legal advocacy organization with offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and by Flaster/Greenberg, P.C., a multi-disciplinary law firm of 65 lawyers in seven offices throughout Philadelphia, Wilmington and Southern New Jersey.
They reached a comprehensive settlement with SRU through which the plaintiffs secured for themselves and future athletes SRU’s commitment to achieve fairness in both participation and treatment of women athletes. The settlement also created a $300,000 fund to be spent over three years on women’s athletics to overcome historical conditions that limited women’s participation in sports.
“This lawsuit was definitely worthwhile,” said Beth Choike, a former SRU water polo athlete and lead plaintiff, “We’ve already seen some definite improvements, and the progress just keeps on going.”
SRU also agreed that there would be no retaliation stemming from the lawsuit. However, Shaffer and Lokash claim that they were retaliated against for their participation in the earlier lawsuit challenging the athletic department’s compliance with Title IX.
According to the complaint, Lokash was told that her contract will be allowed to expire in 2013. Shaffer, who also serves as the athletics business manager, has reportedly been given “massive amounts of work” and kept out of important meetings and denied adequate support.
Lokash and Shaffer have both testified in interviews conducted to monitor the consent order in the case that Lueken had difficulty dealing with strong women. Lueken later made several statements suggesting that he viewed their statements as “disloyal,” the complaint said. Both women then received unfavorable job reviews and hostile treatment from Lueken. However, Lueken was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
John Stember, who represented the two women stated, “It was from the volleyball hall of fame to goodbye,” for Ms. Lokash. Lokash was inducted into the Pennsylvania Coaches Association Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2002. “Her decision on whether to stay or depart from Slippery Rock, she wants that to be her decision, not Lueken’s decision based on what happened,” said Stember.
According to Stember, Shaffer asked for her chain of command to be changed so that she does not report to Lueken. Both women also sought monetary damages.
After filing suit in June, Shaffer and Lokash reached a settlement with SRU in December. However, details were not immediately available of the terms of the settlement. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs and the university could not be immediately reached for comment and a university spokesman said he had no information about the settlement.
