Senior U.S. District Court Judge Joe Heaton approved last month a class action settlement, which requires the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) to provide female student-athletes with equal treatment and opportunities, hire an outside expert to conduct a review of its intercollegiate athletic program, as well as develop and implement a Gender Equity Plan to bring the entire program into compliance with Title IX.
The settlement also provides UCO’s women’s varsity indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and cross country teams with specific relief starting in 2024-25, including equipment, supplies, transportation, publicity, and practice schedules equal to those provided to men’s varsity teams; access to college-level practice facilities; and the ability to host at least one home competition every year. In addition, it prohibits UCO from “retaliating” against any of its female student-athletes.
The settlement resolves a Title IX class action filed against UCO in 2022 by Tatum Robertson and Eve Brennan, two members of the women’s varsity track and field teams, for discriminating against its female student-athletes. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination by any educational institution receiving federal funds.
The women’s indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and cross country teams at UCO—unlike any men’s teams—were provided no locker room, no competitive facility, and required to practice at a local middle school. When they complained about the unequal treatment they and other women athletes received, UCO fired their head coach.
“We applaud the plaintiffs for fighting not only for themselves, but for all female student-athletes at UCO,” said plaintiffs’ counsel Lori Bullock of Bailey & Glasser, LLP. “We are honored to represent women who are willing to stand up to their universities and demand equality.”
“This is a great victory for Tatum Robertson, Eve Brennan, all of the women at UCO, and everyone who cares about gender equity,” said plaintiffs’ counsel Arthur Bryant, previously of Bailey Glasser and now with Clarkson. “It confirms what, sadly, the history of Title IX has shown: if women want equality, they need to fight for it.”
Plaintiffs’ counsel also included Bailey Glasser partners Cary Joshi and Joshua Hammack, associate Sallie Gilbert, along with Frank Frasier and Maureen Johnson of Frasier, Frasier, Hickman, LLP, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
To see the UCO Title IX settlement agreement, click here.
