Former UNF Womens BB Coach settles for $1.5 Million

[spuwho]

Per Florida Politics:

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/204387-unf-former-womens-basketball-coach-settle-title-ix-lawsuit-1-25-million



UNF, FORMER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH SETTLE TITLE IX LAWSUIT FOR $1.25 MILLION

The University of North Florida and its former women's basketball coach Mary Tappmeyer have announced a settlement in Tappmeyer's sex discrimination and retaliation claims associated with her termination from UNF in March 2015.

UNF will pay Tappmeyer $1.25 million to settle her claims, according to attorneys representing Tappmeyer.

She left the program as the only women's basketball coach UNF had ever known.

In the complaint, Tappmeyer alleged that UNF terminated her from her long-standing position as UNF women's basketball coach in retaliation for complaints she filed about sex discrimination experienced by female student athletes, and because of alleged sex discrimination against her.

According to Tappmeyer, UNF allowed male basketball recruits academic exceptions to UNF's admissions requirements, but refused any exceptions for female players. Other complaints were that the women's basketball team had unequal operating budgets, travel budgets, locker rooms, and training and office facilities as compared to the men's team. Tappmeyer also says UNF disparaged the women's basketball team coaches to current players, recruits, other members of the athletic department, UNF donors, and the UNF community.

And she asserted that while UNF paid her significantly less than her male counterpart, the University held her to more stringent performance standards than her male counterpart, and thwarted her recruitment and coaching efforts.

The lawsuit alleged that UNF's actions violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"As a life-long player and then coach, I know first-hand how great the game of basketball is and how significant of a role the game can play in a student's life. Women at UNF deserve an equal opportunity to not only participate in athletics, but also to succeed. I am hopeful UNF will work to get back to the days when it prided itself on gender equity in athletics. Though I wish my time at UNF would have ended differently, I look forward to continuing to root for and support the female Ospreys," said Tappmeyer in a prepared statement.

"I applaud Coach Tappmeyer for pursuing her ongoing sex discrimination complaints over the past year," said Nancy Hogshead-Makar, nationally quoted Title IX expert and Olympian gold medalist. Hogshead-Makar is a Jacksonville resident and CEO of Champion Women.

"Many coaches would have taken the overt discrimination in the teeth and headed to a new school. Her settlement today opens up new pathways for gender equality at the University of North Florida and across the country."

However, UNF president John Delaney released a statement as well, sharply differing with Tappmeyer's claims.

"The University of North Florida Board of Trustees approved a settlement agreement after former Women's Basketball Coach Mary Tappmeyer threatened to sue the University," said Delaney. "Settling this case in no way means we agree with any of the allegations. In fact, we unequivocally reject the allegations made by Tappmeyer. UNF didn't renew Tappmeyer's contract at the end of the 2014-15 season, after 11 losing seasons.

Each time Tappmeyer brought an allegation to our attention, it was investigated thoroughly and completely.  In 2015, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity conducted a thorough review and determined that the allegations lacked merit. The University retains Title IX consultants with regularity to review compliance and internals reviews occur with regularity. After much consideration, we made a business decision to settle the case because the litigation had the real potential to cost the University more than one million dollars in legal fees, even in victory.  The majority of the settlement will be paid from the State's Risk Management Office."

[spuwho]

Per WOKV:

UNF settles over threat of lawsuit from coach who called AD 'homophobic' and 'racist'

Jacksonville, Fl. — The University of North Florida has settled over the threat of a lawsuit from a former coach.
Former women's basketball head coach Mary Tappmeyer accused the school of Title IX violations and will receive $1.25 million in the settlement.

Tappmeyer accused UNF Athletic Director Lee Moon of discrimination on the basis of sex and gender, at one point calling her boss "homophobic." An investigation by the UNF Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity found her claims to be without merit.
In the report released by the EOD in Aug. 2015, Tappmeyer's complaints included Moon's alleged negative attitude toward recruiting gay and lesbian, along with minority, student athletes. Tappmeyer claimed Moon asked her to recruit in the Midwest because "nobody wants to watch an all-black team play."

"Look, if I believed her claims, we'd have a new athletic director," UNF President John Delaney told WOKV. "I think the coach just wanted to blame someone else for 11 straight losing seasons, and that's unfortunate."

Tappmeyer also described Moon as sexist, saying he held bias against female coaches by consistently trying to fill their positions with male coaches. There are also allegations of unequal pay and unfair facilities for female coaches.

Delaney denies all claims made by Tappmeyer and says this was strictly a business decision.

[Tacachale]

This statement went out to UNF students and staff:

Message from President Delaney

I want to let you know about a legal case that will likely make the news.

Former Women's Basketball Coach Mary Tappmeyer threatened to file a lawsuit against UNF, making a wide variety of claims. You may remember that UNF didn't renew Tappmeyer's contract at the end of the 2014-15 season, after 11 straight losing seasons. The team won only a handful of conference games the previous two years.

The team also had an unusual high turnover of student athletes; more than three times as many players quit or transferred than the men's team over the same time frame. In hindsight, we should have acted earlier in making a coaching change.

In 2015, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity conducted a thorough review of claims made by Tappmeyer and determined that the allegations lacked merit.

UNF denies each and every allegation, each of which was investigated at the time of complaint, and all allegations were unfounded. Every few years, we bring in an outside consultant to review our Title 9 compliance. Last year, we brought in two teams of consultants to likewise review the department processes and human resource activity.

The University is insured by the State of Florida's Risk Management Office, which is paying the bulk of the claim.

After much consideration the University made the decision to settle as a pure business decision. We would have prevailed on the merits, but we projected spending more than $1 million in legal fees even in a victory. It's the state of our legal system that one can lose by winning.

Finally, it is important to note that the UNF Athletic Department is currently performing at its highest level since the university added an athletic program decades ago.

[carpnter]

What a crock.  11 straight losing seasons?  She probably held her job longer than any male counterpart would have been kept, and 11 straight losing seasons is plenty of justification for not paying her anywhere near the men's basketball coach.

[vicupstate]

The problem is, when you settle a case that had no merit to begin with, you get more of the same. Maybe not UNF itself, but some other school.  Is it not possible for the school to sue for legal fees if they prevail? 

[carpnter]

The problem is, when you settle a case that had no merit to begin with, you get more of the same. Maybe not UNF itself, but some other school.  Is it not possible for the school to sue for legal fees if they prevail?

This is why we need a loser pays system.

[Bridges]

This statement went out to UNF students and staff:

Message from President Delaney

I want to let you know about a legal case that will likely make the news.

Former Women's Basketball Coach Mary Tappmeyer threatened to file a lawsuit against UNF, making a wide variety of claims. You may remember that UNF didn't renew Tappmeyer's contract at the end of the 2014-15 season, after 11 straight losing seasons. The team won only a handful of conference games the previous two years.

The team also had an unusual high turnover of student athletes; more than three times as many players quit or transferred than the men's team over the same time frame. In hindsight, we should have acted earlier in making a coaching change.

In 2015, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity conducted a thorough review of claims made by Tappmeyer and determined that the allegations lacked merit.

UNF denies each and every allegation, each of which was investigated at the time of complaint, and all allegations were unfounded. Every few years, we bring in an outside consultant to review our Title 9 compliance. Last year, we brought in two teams of consultants to likewise review the department processes and human resource activity.

The University is insured by the State of Florida's Risk Management Office, which is paying the bulk of the claim.

After much consideration the University made the decision to settle as a pure business decision. We would have prevailed on the merits, but we projected spending more than $1 million in legal fees even in a victory. It's the state of our legal system that one can lose by winning.

Finally, it is important to note that the UNF Athletic Department is currently performing at its highest level since the university added an athletic program decades ago.

Maybe high turnover rate due to the allegations against Moon?

UNF said Tappmeyer made the following allegations against Moon in a meeting on April 16, 2015:

1) He was homophobic and did not want you to recruit gay/lesbian student athletes

2) He was racist and stated that nobody wants to watch an all-black team play and asked you to recruit in the Midwestern section of the United States

3) He was sexist and biased against female coaches because he wanted you to hire a male assistant coach, had consistently replaced female coaches with male coaches, made employment contract salary decisions resulting in unequal pay for female coaches and wanted pregnant assistant coaches fired

4) Basketball facilities for women were different for men's teams

5) Operating budgets, scholarships and recruitment practices were different based upon gender.
UNF said it retains Title IX consultants to regularly review compliance.

Is UNF going to investigate internally? 

[Tacachale]

This statement went out to UNF students and staff:

Message from President Delaney

I want to let you know about a legal case that will likely make the news.

Former Women's Basketball Coach Mary Tappmeyer threatened to file a lawsuit against UNF, making a wide variety of claims. You may remember that UNF didn't renew Tappmeyer's contract at the end of the 2014-15 season, after 11 straight losing seasons. The team won only a handful of conference games the previous two years.

The team also had an unusual high turnover of student athletes; more than three times as many players quit or transferred than the men's team over the same time frame. In hindsight, we should have acted earlier in making a coaching change.

In 2015, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity conducted a thorough review of claims made by Tappmeyer and determined that the allegations lacked merit.

UNF denies each and every allegation, each of which was investigated at the time of complaint, and all allegations were unfounded. Every few years, we bring in an outside consultant to review our Title 9 compliance. Last year, we brought in two teams of consultants to likewise review the department processes and human resource activity.

The University is insured by the State of Florida's Risk Management Office, which is paying the bulk of the claim.

After much consideration the University made the decision to settle as a pure business decision. We would have prevailed on the merits, but we projected spending more than $1 million in legal fees even in a victory. It's the state of our legal system that one can lose by winning.

Finally, it is important to note that the UNF Athletic Department is currently performing at its highest level since the university added an athletic program decades ago.

Maybe high turnover rate due to the allegations against Moon?

UNF said Tappmeyer made the following allegations against Moon in a meeting on April 16, 2015:

1) He was homophobic and did not want you to recruit gay/lesbian student athletes

2) He was racist and stated that nobody wants to watch an all-black team play and asked you to recruit in the Midwestern section of the United States

3) He was sexist and biased against female coaches because he wanted you to hire a male assistant coach, had consistently replaced female coaches with male coaches, made employment contract salary decisions resulting in unequal pay for female coaches and wanted pregnant assistant coaches fired

4) Basketball facilities for women were different for men's teams

5) Operating budgets, scholarships and recruitment practices were different based upon gender.
UNF said it retains Title IX consultants to regularly review compliance.

Is UNF going to investigate internally?

I'm an employee, so I really can't talk about this here, but note that the message says this, with a link to the investigation report:


In 2015, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity conducted a thorough review of claims made by Tappmeyer and determined that the allegations lacked merit.

UNF denies each and every allegation, each of which was investigated at the time of complaint, and all allegations were unfounded. Every few years, we bring in an outside consultant to review our Title 9 compliance. Last year, we brought in two teams of consultants to likewise review the department processes and human resource activity.