A suit filed by female student-athletes got a big boost as a result of a preliminary federal court ruling. 

In March 2009, Quinnipiac University announced plans to put the kibosh on the school’s women’s volleyball team. At the time, about 62% of the school’s undergraduates were females but only about 53% of its athletic opportunities were available to women.

To remedy the disparity, the school decided to make competitive cheer a varsity sport (instead of a club one). It also chose to create indoor and outdoor track teams for women.

A group of female students sued to stop the school from cutting women’s volleyball, claiming the cut would violate Title IX. After the court entered a preliminary ruling that temporarily banned the planned cut, the students sought to expand the case into a class action suit.

The court agreed to allow the women to represent not only themselves but also the class of current, prospective and future female students who were harmed by and want to end the school’s alleged sex discrimination in athletics.

Cite: Biediger v. Quinnipiac Univ.

Tags: athletics, Quinnipiac University, sex discrimination, Title IX