The University of North Florida (UNF) reached a settlement last month with its former women’s basketball coach, who had alleged that UNF Athletic Director Lee Moon had discriminated against her in violation of Title IX.
Specifically, plaintiff Mary Tappmeyer charged that Moon discriminated against her because of her gender, race, and his belief that she was a lesbian. The plaintiff alleged that he was:
Homophobic and discouraged the recruitment of gay/lesbian student athletes.
Racist, saying “nobody wants to watch an all-Black team play “and calling a student-athlete a “N” lover.
Sexist and biased against female coaches, replacing them with male coaches as well as seeking to have pregnant assistant coaches fired.
In addition, she charged that the women’s basketball facilities were inferior to men’s basketball facilities.
After the allegations were made, UNF’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (EOD) conducted an internal investigation in which it determined that Tappmeyer’s claims of Title IX infractions “lacked merit.” The report leaned heavily on the testimony of Moon and other members of the athletic department as well as Tappmeyer’s 2012 review, in which Moon said she wouldn’t be retained if she couldn’t produce a winning record in the conference. The team finished with a 6-10 record in conference play the following season.
As part of the $1.25 million settlement, the university announced that it will pay $525,000, while the other $725,000 will be paid by the state’s insurance.
In settling the case, UNF President John Delaney said the university’s board of trustees made a “business decision” to avoid waging a costly legal battle with Tappmeyer. “Our lawyers did a budget for what it would cost to countersue and the costs, even in winning, were going to be more than the settlement amount. So we made the classic business decision in a nuisance lawsuit,” Delaney told First Coast News. “It’s bitter because I’d like to contest it, you know; every one of those allegations are wrong.”
He added that Tappmeyer “had 11 straight losing seasons, which normally gets you fired. I think she wants to blame someone else.”
One of Tappmeyer’s attorneys, Nancy Hogshead-Makar, had a different perspective than Delaney, noting that Tappmeyer’s record was a byproduct of how she was treated. She added that Tappmeyer’s leadership was repeatedly undermined in front of her players and recruits. Meanwhile, another of the plaintiff’s attorneys, Linda Correia, told Insidehighered.com that UNF “was suffocating Coach Tappmeyer’s program. So she stood up for her players.”
Hogshead-Makar added that you don’t pay $1.25 million unless there are “serious problems within the university.”
