Female wrestlers’ gender equity suit gets green light
February 16, 2010 by Taylor HanniganPosted in: From the Courts, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
When a school told its female wrestlers they’d have to start competing with men for a spot on the team, the real fight began.
Three female high school wrestlers chose to attend the University of California, Davis, so they could participate in the school’s wrestling program.
UCD didn’t have separate wrestling teams for men and women. The females practiced with the men and enjoyed the various benefits of varsity status, but they competed only against other females and wrestled under different rules.
When UCD eliminated all women from the team during the 2000-2001 academic year, the females wrestlers protested. UCD’s response: You’re welcome to come back to the team – as long as you can beat male wrestlers in your weight class, using men’s rules.
That didn’t sit too well with the female wrestlers, who sued under Title IX for alleged denial of equal athletic opportunities. They also claimed an equal protection violation.
A lower court ruled against the female wrestlers, saying the Title IX claims failed because the wrestlers sued before giving UCD notice and a chance to fix any alleged program deficiencies.
But a federal appeals court reversed, concluding that prior notice wasn’t required. Importantly, it also said UCD failed to prove it had “a history and continuing practice of program expansion” that demonstrated Title IX compliance. The appeals court also reversed the lower court’s decision to reject the equal protection claim.
The case was sent back to the district court for further proceedings.
Cite: Mansourian v. Regents of the University of California.
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Tags: athletics, equal protection, Title IX, University of California
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February 22nd, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Women have sued, and won, the right to be included in “contact sports” with men under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause (Barnett v. Texas Wrestling Ass’n, 16 F.Supp.2d 690 (19980 (wrestling); Mercer v. Duke Univ., 190 F.3d 643 (4th Cir. 1999)(football)).
How can they now sue claiming the right not to be included under the same laws?
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Having coached high school wrestling for more than 25 years, I have never understood those who think that it is OK for women to compete with men in this sport. I have no problem with creating a separate team for the women. However finding other teams to compete against will be difficult.
I suggest that UC Davis develop a Women’s Judo club……………….Jim Milhon
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:55 am
My previous employer faced a problem like this. Men wanted to compete on the synchronized swimming team. The women of the team and the student council felt that it would be detrimental to the team and the sport. The AD, willing to gamble that the addition of men to the team would expand the fan base to a demographic not previously captured, thought it would bring in more revenue to the athletic department and supported the move. Before long, almost every imaginable party was involved in the fray including the mothers of the men who wanted to compete. Eventually, the Chancellor stepped in with a solution. Because of the divisiveness of the program, he decided to eliminate synchronized swimming altogether. Initially there was a lot of fallout, but after a few years the wounds have healed. The coffers of the athletic department have recovered and most of the pride has returned to the school. I guess there will always be the sting and sadness associated with not having a synchronized swimming team, but I contend that their steady growth in research funding, number of top scholars, and solid success in both football and basketball more than make up for the loss.
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:00 pm
“You’re welcome to come back to the team – as long as you can beat male wrestlers in your weight class, using men’s rules.”
Men’s rules? So you’re saying that there should be a different set of rules for women? The seems kind of sexist.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:12 pm
i’m a female wrestler on a boy’s team and i have to fight for a spot as well. my first year, two years ago, i started all the time. last year i had that spot for half of the time, mostly to take one for the team. but i have never complained that it was unfair for me to have to fight for the spot. if someone’s better then you, they deserve that spot. no matter what gender. i do think that they shouldn’t always seperate the two though. i’m better then most girls because i wrestle the guys. i don’t know why it needs to be a big deal. everyone fights for the spot and everyone does the same workout if not more on their own. the only rule i get to break is the hair length rule, and that’s fine with me. if you aren’t tough enough to take it, don’t wrestle.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:16 am
Equal Rights for Men:
Because they want it both ways? The right to be on the men’s team and the right to have their own team?
Althought I don’t really support the idea of them wrestling on the men’s team. If there isn’t enough support for women’s wrestling for the women to wrestle other women then the team should be cut. I don’t see any reason we need to try and use social engineering and the power of the US courts to get a women interested in wrestling.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:48 am
To Jim Milhon,
I agree they should be on separate teams. With our society’s strong norms against male violence against women, I have never felt it was fair to the men, and especially teen-age boys, to put them in the position where they have to wrestle women and thus can only lose. Either they are beat by the woman or they beat a woman. Both are bad for men.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
woah, wait…all the female wrestlers i know aren’t like this. and i know quite a few. and it’s near to impossible to create teams for every female who wants to be on one, so we join the boys’ team. and if they guy decides to be a man and respect the woman he’s wrestling, he will have no problem accepting defeat or the lost. i have talked to numerous opponents and so have my teammates. every guy was cool with what they got because i put my toe to the line and wrestled like a man. and i think it’s great that women wrestle. do any of you who complain about this situation know any female wrestlers personally?
February 26th, 2010 at 10:45 am
To JV 160
I didn’t say anything about how female wrestlers act. I commented on society’s norms on men’s violence against women and there is an important and very strong norm against male violence against women.
I am thinking about the male wrestler’s interests and I have known more than a few male high school wrestlers. I think we put them in a tough situation making them wrestle women. I don’t think we should require or even encourage it. How would the women like it if we required them to wrestle men? It seems the women in the case above are suing to prevent that.
I also know at least one woman high school wrestler. I have a lot of respect for her. I wish her well in finding female wrestling, but I don’t see how a school can guarantee it. She is very athletic and plays 3 other sports. It does not seem to be a great hardship to say she can’t do this one if there are not enough interested girls. If she wants to play cricket do we have to give her that opportunity too?
March 1st, 2010 at 11:07 am
I have a 13 year old son who wrestles and there is one team in our area that has a girl. My son’s biggest problem is that he is afraid of where to touch her when wrestling – I told him to consider her a “boy” when she wrestles – you don’t do anything different. I do feel for him though since it is hard at that age to separate what is ok on the mat and what is ok in life:)
March 9th, 2010 at 11:59 am
My point exactly.
By the way, my school district has women’s softball, men’s hardball, women’s volleyball, but no men’s volleyball. After deciding that men could not go out for women’s volleyball because the boys would dominate the team, the same sports committee decided that girls COULD go out for baseball, because softball was not an adequate substitute. How is that fair?
February 24th, 2011 at 2:12 am
Hello. I know a couple of male wrestlers who after were done wrestling with a woman, were more embarrassed after getting aroused from wrestling her. In wrestling there is so much touching and in improper places (sexually). Woman should not wrestle men. Period. They can wrestle other woman, or don’t wrestle at all. Sorry women. The bible does also state, don’t give off a hint of sexual activity. That is what you are doing if you wrestle the oppisite sex. Again, sorry women.