Girls Seeking Football League Awarded Class Cert. in Discrimination Lawsuit

A group of girls who say they should be provided the opportunity to play in a female football league at school won Class certification in their discrimination lawsuit.

The plaintiffs, seven minors who had started and grew a girls’ football league to include more than 200 players in Utah in two years, alleged in a class action lawsuit that the school districts and Utah High School Activities Association had violated Title IX and the Constitution by refusing to offer girls tackle football.

The plaintiffs say that by failing to back the girls’ league and being forced into a recreational league, they were denied funding, awards, and recognition.

In a win for the players, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby awarded certification to a proposed Class of girls seeking participation in the football team.

The judge pointed to the rapid expansion of the recreational girls’ football program described in the class action lawsuit to support certification.

The school districts argued that the plaintiffs would have to establish that the girls would have chosen football over other athletic offerings; however, this argument was tossed by the judge as unnecessary to define the Class.

“States spend significant amounts of money on stadiums, facilities and coaches to promote boys’ and men’s football. In fact, the highest paid state employee in many states is a football coach,” noted Judge Shelby in his order certifying the proposed Class.

“Yet girls are offered virtually no participation opportunities in football because the biological differences between boys and girls make it difficult for girls to find meaningful opportunities to compete against the boys in football, and schools fail to offer separate girls’ teams in football like they do in other sports such as basketball, track and field and swimming.”

Although Judge Shelby certified the proposed Class with regard to the football team specifically, he did not find enough evidence to support the proposed Class of female students seeking athletic opportunities in general.

The school districts and activities association contended that there was no way to determine how many girls became discouraged and opted out of high school athletics because of the lack of offerings for girls, and Judge Shelby agreed.

“Plaintiffs have still provided no reasonable estimate or basis for the court to extrapolate how many future members of the class would actually seek to participate or are deterred from participating in athletics,” noted the judge explaining his decision.

The plaintiffs in the football league class action lawsuit are seeking an injunction against the Utah school districts and the athletics association forcing them to offer girls tackle football teams at their schools.

The lead plaintiffs are represented by Mark L. Smith, D. Loren Washburn and Jacob L. Fonnesbeck of Smith Washburn LLP and Brent Gordon of Brent Gordon Law.

The Female Football League Class Action Lawsuit is Gordon, et al. v. Jordan School District, et al., Case No. 2:17­-cv­-00677, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.