Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A women's volleyball coach who was fired from a private Catholic university in Bismarck after less than a year on the job says the school opted to get rid of her rather than investigate her complaints about gender bias.
Melissa Duffield contends in a lawsuit filed Friday that the reasons University of Mary officials gave for letting her go violated federal civil rights laws prohibiting sexual discrimination. She says the school is subject to Title IX requirements because the school receives federal funding, and that school officials knew she had filed a Title IX complaint with the Office of Civil Rights before she was fired.
In her lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, Duffield says she was first suspended during the 2014 season "because she gave a stern talking" to some athletes who were underperforming. She says male coaches who use abusive language toward players or bench players who are not performing up to their capabilities do not face similar discipline.
"The University of Mary has a different standard for male coaches than female coaches," the lawsuit says.
A university spokesman, Tom Ackerman, said Monday that the school hadn't seen a copy of the complaint and couldn't comment. Court documents don't list a lawyer for the school.
Duffield was hired to take over the NCAA Division II program on Jan. 1, 2014. She says was let go based on complaints from athletes and her failure to participate in a performance improvement plan. She says she was abruptly fired on Dec. 1, 2014, during a meeting with athletic director Roger Thomas and human resources vice president Sheyna Stroh.
"Coach Duffield attempted to provide comments on the written performance improvement plan, at which time she was told to get out of the office and that she was fired," the lawsuit says.
Duffield says the equipment and funding for the volleyball team doesn't meet federal Title IX requirements. She says the team had four-year-old uniforms and only 12 usable volleyballs, and that many of the practice t-shits had holes in them.
The former coach says she provided $15,000 of her own equipment "just to try to get through the spring season." When she proposed holding a golf tournament to raise money for women's sports, the lawsuit says, she was rejected and told that there was already a golf tournament for the men's teams.
Duffield had been running a volleyball club in Florida before she was hired at the University of Mary. She is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and played collegiately at Iowa, Iowa State and Florida Gulf Coast.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
