Cases & Developments

Opinion vacating denial of class certification and remanding. Plaintiffs, members of the women’s lacrosse team at Fresno State University, on behalf of themselves and a putative class, brought Title IX gender equity claims against the University after it discontinued its women’s lacrosse, men’s wrestling, and men’s tennis teams. The district court denied class certification, citing a conflict between the interests of the named plaintiffs and the interests of other female students participating in other sports whose interests might not be served by diverting resources to the restoration of the lacrosse team. In vacating and remanding, the Ninth Circuit held that the district court abused its discretion because plaintiffs’ effective accommodation claim did not necessarily require reinstatement of the lacrosse team. It also held that the district court abused its discretion in not independently considering plaintiffs’ equal treatment claim.   

Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss in Part.  Plaintiffs, former and current varsity student-athletes at San Diego State University on the women’s track and field team and the women’s rowing team, which was eliminated in 2021, on behalf of themselves and a putative class, brought Title IX claims against the University, alleging it did not provide proportional financial aid to female student-athletes.  The court dismissed for lack of standing (1) the claims of the students who graduated or transferred prior to filing the complaint, and (2) the claims of the former members of the rowing team for damages for dates after the elimination of the team because they could no longer be considered student-athletes and there was no longer any scholarship funding for which they might compete.  It held, however, that plaintiffs had standing on (1) the claims of a former member of the rowing team who had alleged that she was denied the opportunity to compete for proportional financial aid while the team was still active, and (2) members of the track and field team who had alleged prior and ongoing lost opportunity to compete for financial aid.  Applying the “inherently transitory” exception to mootness in class actions, the court further permitted plaintiffs to proceed on their claims for injunctive and declaratory relief even though the only two plaintiffs still at the University are no longer student-athletes.