NCAA Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Filed by Black Student Athletes Will Continue, Judge Rules

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NCAA Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A judge ruled a class action lawsuit filed by Troyce Manassa and Austin Dasent against the NCAA may proceed. 
• Why: Plaintiffs allege the NCAA discriminates against student athletes from historically Black colleges and universities.
• Where: The class action lawsuit is being heard in Indiana federal court.

A class action lawsuit alleging the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program (APP) is discriminatory against student athletes at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) can continue, a federal judge in Indiana ruled on Monday. 

Plaintiffs Troyce Manassa and Austin Dasent, both former basketball players and Black graduates of Savannah State University, allege the NCCA was discriminatory when it barred them from competing in the 2017 basketball postseason.

NCAA Accused of Racial Bias Under New Policy in Lawsuit

The APP, which first came about in 2004, stipulates that teams are to be banned from playing in the postseason if members don’t meet academic requirements, according to the motion.  

Manassa and Dasent are looking to represent a Class of Black student athletes at HBCU universities who were penalized because of the APP. 

Plaintiffs claim the APP unfairly goes after teams from historically Black colleges, such as Savannah State, because, according to the class action lawsuit, they are 43 times more likely to receive postseason bans than other schools. 

The NCAA argued the class action lawsuit should be dismissed, saying Manassa and Dasent failed to adequately allege it intentionally engaged in discrimination against student-athletes at HBCUs. 

An Indiana federal judge disagreed, however, ruling that Manassa and Dasent had sufficiently argued that the NCAA should have been aware the rules would disproportionately harm players at HBCUs. 

“(Plaintiffs) allege the NCAA expressly considered race in the design and implementation of the APP, the NCAA had ample evidence that the APP’s various iterations disproportionately impacted HBCUs … and the NCAA knew that the formula it used to develop the APP relied on metrics that negatively affected Black student-athletes,” the judge wrote. “At this stage, Plaintiffs have carried their burden of plausibly pleading intentional discrimination.” 

The judge also disagreed with claims the plaintiffs had not sufficiently argued how their careers were injured by not being able to play in the postseason, noting they missed out on the national media and professional scout exposure that can come from postseason play. 

A third plaintiff, J’Ta Freeman, a current lacrosse player at Howard University, was dismissed from the class action lawsuit, however, after the judge ruled she did not qualify because she was not on a team that was banned from postseason play, according to the motion. 

The NCAA is facing a separate class action lawsuit filed last month by student athletes at the University of Notre Dame, who allege the university and organization failed to inform them about the long term and destructive effects of head trauma that can come from playing sports.

Do you believe the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program discriminates against student athletes from HBCUs? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by William N. Riley and Russell B. Cate of RileyCate LLC, Elizabeth A. Fegan and Jessica H. Meeder of Fegan Scott LLC, and LaRuby May and Je Yon Jung of May Lightfoot PLLC. 

The NCAA Discrimiantion Class Action Lawsuit is Manassa, et al. v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-03172, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

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