New lawsuit seeking equity for girls in high school sports

Red Bluff High School
(photo of Red Bluff high school)

Legal Aid at Work and our co-counsel at Siegel and Yee filed a new class action under Title IX today to address inequities in sports facilities and programs in Red Bluff, Calif., near Redding.

The lawsuit says boys at the school are afforded many more spots on teams than girls, even though the student body is more than half female — a difference amounting to nearly 200 missed opportunities for girls.

“As a parent, I am concerned that Red Bluff High School treats girls’ sports as an afterthought. The facilities, schedules, equipment, and more for girls’ sports are inferior to what’s provided to boys,” says Jeramie Struthers, father of one of the students who are plaintiffs in the case. “Our daughters should not be relegated to a second-class status on any athletic school team.”

Here’s a press release with more details about this case (and a link to a PDF of the complaint we filed): Press Release and Class Action Complaint

highschool pic
(photo of Red Bluff high school)

This is the latest in a growing collection of such cases we have brought (through our project Fair Play for Girls in Sports) to enforce girls’ rights to equal sports programs and facilities. With our co-counsel, we won a unanimous Ninth Circuit ruling in 2014 applying Title IX to K-12 schools in a case out of Chula Vista that spurred action statewide.

We’ve also pursued cases in Alhambra and Clayton and worked, without litigating, to improve equity in sports programs and facilities in Santa Paula and across California.

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