Three students who filed a class-action lawsuit against the University of California, Davis, claiming the university provided insufficient opportunities for female athletes, have agreed to settle their case, UC Davis officials announced Wednesday.
The settlement, which is still subject to a judge's approval, will provide more opportunities for women at UC Davis to play intercollegiate sports, including the creation of a varsity field-hockey team for women this year.
"I know so many excited women who are going to be able to participate, so I'm really happy for them," said plaintiff Kelsey Brust, a 21-year-old student majoring in animal science who has played field hockey at the club level.
"I'm really proud of UC Davis," said Brust, who won't be able to play on the varsity team this fall because of other commitments.
Noreen Farrell, a San Francisco lawyer with Equal Rights Advocates and lead attorney on the case, said she, too, was pleased with the settlement.
The case, filed in 2007, claimed the university provided women, who make up a majority of students at UC Davis, with disproportionately few opportunities to play varsity sports.
Another lawsuit filed against the university in 2003 on behalf of four female wrestlers was dismissed by a federal judge in Sacramento in April 2008. U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. found the plaintiffs had failed to give the university sufficient notice of their broad legal claim.
But Damrell's ruling, which did not address the alleged discrimination, is being appealed, said Farrell, who is also representing the plaintiffs. All have since graduated from UC Davis, she said.
Both suits were filed under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination in athletics at schools that receive government funding.
The settlement terms establish a plan for UC Davis to reach a certain proportion of male and female athletes by the 2019-2020 school year. As part of the agreement, UC Davis will add field hockey to the 14 intercollegiate sports it currently offers for women.
It also calls for the university to give $110,000 for the development of club sports.
University officials disagreed that the litigation was necessary but are pleased to have reached an outcome that benefits both parties, said UC Davis athletics director Greg Warzecka in a statement.
Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.
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