A federal judge from the Southern District of California has granted an expedited discovery request made by a youth basketball coach, who is challenging the NCAA’s coaching certification policy because it allegedly “discriminates against African Americans in places of public accommodation in violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
In so ruling, the court found that the requests were “narrowly tailored to the issues in the motion for preliminary injunction.”
The plaintiff in the case was Dominic Hardie, the co-founder of the Houston-based Triple D Hoops basketball programs, where he coaches several teams that compete in national tournaments. Hardie was formally an NCAA Division I basketball student-athlete at the University of Houston and the University of North Texas (UNT).
In 2000, at age 23, Hardie was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute less than one gram of cocaine. In 2001, Hardie pled guilty to the charge and received a five year probated sentence. He has not been arrested or convicted since, and recently graduated from UNT. In addition to his duties as a basketball coach, he is a full-time social worker in the child foster care system.
Hardie had been coaching at NCAA-certified basketball contests for several years. From 2006-2010, the NCAA’s policies on felons coaching at NCAA-certified basketball events allowed for coaches to coach their teams as long as it was a non-violent felony conviction and the conviction was older than seven years. The policy at that time distinguished between violent and non-violent felonies. In January 2011, the NCAA removed the distinction between violent and non-violent felonies.
On February 22, 2012, Hardie re-applied for certification to coach at NCAA-certified basketball events for 2012 and 2013. On March 13, 2012, the NCAA informed Hardie that he was denied certification because of his past felony conviction. As a result, Hardie is currently unable to coach his teams at any basketball event certified by the NCAA.
In February 2013, Hardie sued the NCAA and a host of other organizations, claiming the new rule constitutes “unlawful racial discrimination in places of public accommodation.” Hardie further claimed that the defendants have devised a policy that denied him “the full and equal enjoyment of places of public accommodation in violation of Title II by permanently denying coaching certification to him and all other persons with felony convictions without regard to the time passed since conviction, type of conviction, extent of rehabilitation, or the relatedness of the conviction to any legitimate business or organizational purpose.” Hardie argued in his compliant that the NCAA policy has a disparate impact on African Americans because African Americans are “overrepresented in nearly every stage of the criminal justice system.” Hardie pointed to statistics that show African Americans are 4.5 times more likely that American Caucasians to have a felony conviction.
Hardie sought a declaratory judgment indicating that the NCAA policy is unlawful and violates Title II. He also sought a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining the NCAA and other defendants “from implementing the felony exclusion policy and practice…and providing [Hardie] with participant approval allowing him to coach at the MSNM Western Tournament and all other NCAA certified tournaments.”
On March 14, 2013, Hardie filed the aforementioned motion to expedite discovery pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d). The defendants opposed the motion.
In determining whether “good cause justifies expedited discovery,” the judge noted that courts commonly consider the following factors: “(1) whether a preliminary injunction is pending; (2) the breadth of the discovery requests; (3) the purpose for requesting the expedited discovery; (4) the burden on the defendants to comply with the requests; and (5) how far in advance of the typical discovery process the request was made.” Am. LegalNet., Inc. v. Davis, 673 F. Supp. 2d 1063, 1067 (C.D. Cal. 2009); Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 768 F.Supp.2d 1040, 1044 (N.D. Cal. 2011).
They went on to find that “the factors set forth in Am. LegalNet., Inc.v. Davis weigh in favor of the plaintiff’s request to conduct expedited discovery. First, there is a motion for preliminary injunction pending. Second, the plaintiff argues his requests are narrowly tailored to the issues in the motion for preliminary injunction. In particular, the plaintiff seeks information about the NCAA’s certification rules, which the plaintiff alleges are discriminatory and should not be enforced. Third, the plaintiff argues the discovery will assist the court in resolving the motion for preliminary injunction.”
However, the court found that “some of the requests are overbroad at this stage in the litigation. Specifically, the court finds the plaintiff’s requests should be limited to information about the NCAA’s policies from 2006 to present, as the two coaching-certification policies that the plaintiff was subject to fall within that time period.”
Dominic Hardie v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, a nonprofit association, et al.; S.D. Calif.; Case No. 13cv346-W (DHB), 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49714; 4/5/13
Attorneys of Record: (for plaintiff) Jane Lynn Dolkart, Noel Roycroft, LEAD ATTORNEYS, PRO HAC VICE, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, DC; Mark Andrew Woodmansee, LEAD ATTORNEY, Morrison and Foerster, San Diego, CA; Thomas H Prouty, LEAD ATTORNEY, Troutman Sanders LLP, Irvine, CA; Jeffrey M. David, Morrison & Foerster LLP, San Diego, CA. (for defendant National Collegiate Athletic Association) Katessa C. Davis, LEAD ATTORNEY, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Los Angeles, CA; Spencer C Skeen, LEAD ATTORNEY, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., San Diego, CA. (for defendant International Girls Basketball Organization, a Washington nonprofit corporation) Charles Frederick Goria, LEAD ATTORNEY, Goria Weber & Jarvis, San Diego, CA. (for defendant Alliant International University) E Joseph Connaughton, III, LEAD ATTORNEY, Paul Plevin Sullivan and Connaughton, San Diego, CA; Robert H. Quayle, IV, LEAD ATTORNEY, Daley and Heft LLP, Solana Beach, CA. (for defendant Town and Country Hotel, LLC, a California limited liability company) Amy Wintersheimer Findley, LEAD ATTORNEY, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble and Mallory, San Diego, CA.
