A federal judge has approved a settlement of a gender equity lawsuit involving Delaware State University and its women’s equestrian team. The agreement calls for the university to pay the team’s attorney fees and court costs, amounting to approximately $500,000. DSU has also made a commitment to continue funding the team for the foreseeable future.
“There’s no words to express how happy we are to remain at Delaware State to do what we came for,” said Caroline Foltz, the team’s captain and the lead plaintiff. “I would love for equestrian to stay at DSU forever, but there’s a need for equity for all women’s sports.”
The plaintiffs, a dozen members of DSU’s women’s equestrian team, filed a claim on February 23, 2010, seeking relief from DSU’s decision to shutter its women’s equestrian team at the conclusion of the 2009-10 academic year. Specifically, they argued that the school had intentionally discriminated against them in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-88.
On April 7, 2010, after the plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, a magistrate judge approved the parties’ jointly-proposed consent order, which stated that DSU may not eliminate the equestrian team until the end of the 2010-11 academic year.
The plaintiffs subsequently filed a revised complaint that sought, among other requested relief, issuance of “a final injunction that restrains DSU from continuing to discriminate against female students on the basis of sex and from eliminating the women’s varsity equestrian team or any women’s athletic opportunities and requires DSU to provide females with an equal opportunity to participate in varsity intercollegiate athletics.”
Over the summer, a federal judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification , finding that they had met all the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, or numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy.
