The Gender-Equity Q&A is intended to help athletics administrators understand institutional gender-equity and Title IX-related issues. Answers for the Q&A are provided by Christine Grant, associate professor at the University of Iowa, and Janet Judge, attorney with Verrill & Dana LLP.

Q Does Title IX protect those who raise concerns about equity in their athletics programs?

A In an opinion issued March 29, 2005, the United States Supreme Court resolved a conflict among the federal circuit courts by ruling that Title IX protections extend to those who witness and complain about sex discrimination, even if they are not the direct victims of the underlying discrimination.

In Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education, the court considered the case of Roderick Jackson, a high-school teacher and former girls' basketball coach. Jackson alleged that the school board relieved him of his coaching duties because he complained that his girls' basketball team was not being treated or supported equitably by the school district. In particular, Jackson stated that his team did not receive equal funding or equal access to facilities and equipment when compared with the boys' program.

Jackson filed a complaint in the federal district court alleging that his termination violated Title IX. He argued that he was fired in retaliation for complaining about the inequitable treatment of his team and his players. Both the district court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case. Those federal courts found that Title IX does not provide a private right of action for individuals to allege retaliation in court. The 11th Circuit further found that even if retaliation was prohibited by Title IX, the law's protections would not extend to Jackson because he was an indirect, and not the direct, victim of the underlying complaint of discrimination.

The Supreme Court disagreed. In a 5-4 opinion, the court noted that prior decisions made clear that Title IX provides a private cause of action against federal funding recipients who intentionally discriminate on the basis of sex. Retaliation against an individual because he or she complains about sex discrimination, the court reasoned, is by its very nature an intentional act. Finally, the court found, retaliation is intentional discrimination "on the basis of sex" in violation of Title IX because it is an intentional response to an allegation of sex discrimination.

The Supreme Court next turned its attention to the 11th Circuit's finding that Jackson could not avail himself of Title IX's protections because he was not the direct victim of the original complaint of sex discrimination. Again, the Supreme Court disagreed. It found that Title IX's protections extend to those who oppose sex discrimination and who then suffer discriminatory retaliation as a result -- regardless of whether they are the direct victims of the original complaint. The court restated the following hypothetical, voiced by the petitioner at oral argument, to illustrate the injustices that would result from the 11th Circuit's reasoning:

* If the male captain of the boys' basketball team and the female captain of the girls' basketball team together approach the school principal to complain about discrimination against the girls' team, and the principal retaliates by expelling them both from the honor society, then both the female and the male captains have been "discriminated" against "on the basis of sex."

To rule otherwise, the Supreme Court reasoned, would make those in the best position to witness sex discrimination -- students, coaches and teachers -- "loath to report it." If retaliation against these who witness and seek to remedy sex discrimination were not prohibited, "Title IX's enforcement scheme would unravel."

The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court to determine factually whether the school board fired Jackson as the girls' basketball coach because he complained about discrimination against his program. In the meantime, the Jackson decision applies to all educational institutions in the United States that receive federal funding. In short, retaliation against someone who files a complaint of Title IX discrimination -- because they file the complaint -- is prohibited by Title IX.

For additional gender-equity resources, including newly created video segments featuring Christine Grant and Janet Judge, visit www.ncaa.org/gender_equity.