A former softball coach at Bethune-Cookman University has sued the school, alleging gender and racial discrimination.
Plaintiff Chris Cochran was a highly decorated coach, twice being named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference coach of the year, before she was dismissed late in the season in 2014.
Cochran claimed in the lawsuit that she was fired for complaining about the conditions of the women’s softball fields and facilities.
In November of 2014, the plaintiff filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which issued a notice of right to sue.
Cochran claimed in the lawsuit that the women’s field “was poorly maintained; had no warning track; lacked lockers, showers and changing facilities; had inadequate lighting, had no tarp to cover the field, had no covered batting cages; and lacked seating for spectators. There often would be feces, needles, blankets, and clothing in the dugouts.”
Furthermore, the male student athletes allegedly traveled in “comfortable, air-conditioned travel buses,” while the women rode in “cramped, dirty, rough-riding, poorly-ventilated short buses.”
At the time of the firing, Athletic Director Lynn Thompson said the school was “grateful to Coach Cochran for guiding our program to three championship. She has allowed our softball team to regain a place as a perennial MEAC power. However, as we seek to radically transform our program in every aspect, we must make tough decisions that are in the best interest of the university and our athletics program in order to enhance the total student-athlete experience.”
The school will likely lodge the same defense it gave after the EEOC filing that Cochran was fired because of student complaints about her.
However, Cochran contends that school officials never informed her of the complaints, and that complaints had also been made against a black football coach for allegedly bullying players and employees, and yet he was only disciplined, rather than fired. Cochran, who is white, claimed that she was held “to different standards than male and African American coaches.”
