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Deny, deny, deny: FGCU responds to discrimination lawsuit

Vaughn

Vaughn

Jaye Flood, former head coach of Florida Gulf Coast University women's volleyball

Jaye Flood, former head coach of Florida Gulf Coast University women's volleyball

Holly Vaughn and Jaye Flood were once employees in its athletics department, that much the Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees will admit.

Basically everything else about the former coaches lawsuit against the university is a point of contention.

The attorney for the FGCU trustees, Aaron Behar of a Miami law firm, filed the university’s response on Friday to the federal lawsuit initially filed by Flood in January and amended when Vaughn joined her complaint in May.

In its rebuttal, FGCU denies all allegations made of sex discrimination, retaliation and defamation in Flood and Vaughn’s filings.

“All of the Defendant’s acts were taken for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons, based on permissible factors,” Behar wrote in the response.

Neither Behar nor the organization representing Flood and Vaughn commented on the pending lawsuit. FGCU’s policy prevents university administration from commenting on the matter.

“We don’t comment on pending litigation,” university spokeswoman Susan Evans said.

The lawsuit claimed that once Flood and Vaughn complained about how female employees were treated in the athletics department — first through a letter written by a former athletic direction in May 2007 and second through separate equal opportunity filings with the university in September — they became subject to retaliatory acts in the department such as receiving poor job performance evaluations in summer 2007.

Vaughn resigned her position as women’s golf coach in October, and Flood was fired as volleyball coach in January after an university investigation which revealed she pursued an inappropriate relationship with a student.

In the response to the lawsuit, FGCU denies nearly every claim made by Flood and Vaughn except for basic information, like Flood being the first volleyball coach in school history, and items that support the university’s case, like President Wilson Bradshaw giving Flood a chance to respond to the allegations that led to her firing.

In addition to denying any wrongdoing and claims of sex discrimination, retaliation and defamation, the FGCU trustees deny knowledge of information like the coaches’ win-loss record and Flood’s election as coach of the year in the Atlantic Sun conference because they don’t have specific knowledge of it.

The trustees also deny knowledge of information that is part of FGCU documentation like the initial letter of complaint about athletics department discrimination and the university’s own investigations into the matter.

FGCU demanded Flood and Vaughn provide proof for all their claims.

In their lawsuit, Flood asks for her job back while both ask for monetary damages. They do not ask for a certain amount.

FGCU faces a second federal lawsuit as part of the claims of sex discrimination in the athletics department. Former General Counsel Wendy Morris claims she was fired because she objected to the way the university was handling the athletics department complaints.

Morris and FGCU have agreed to try to reach a settlement in the lawsuit through mediation. That negotiation should take place on or before Aug. 15.

Comments

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Now that FGCU has been sued, all of a sudden no one there knows anything about what happened. Those rascals of retaliation, Bradshaw, Pegnetter and McAloose, sure acted like they knew it all when they were investigating, firing, demoting and running off a multitude of women students and employees during the last year. Turnabout is fair play, boys.

"Self-denial is not a virtue: it is only the effect of prudence on rascality."
-- George Bernard Shaw

#1 Posted by Bob1414 on July 11, 2008 at 10:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This is going to be very, very, ugly.

FGCU is mostly dominated in the upper tiers of the university by men. The promotional system, is dominated by men, the highest paid staff, by two-fold in salary.... ARE MEN.

So to deny this suit is very normal. Let's go play golf guys and forget about what these women say.

But when the courts get wind of this, they'll pay.

Or taxpayers will pay, is what I meant to say.

Last year BOB? Nooooo, women knew their place at FGCU...and it has been this way since the school opened it's doors....as secretaries and temps....with some dept heads here and there....but not at the top.....or should I say too close to the top dog prior to Bradshaw.

Denial is ugly. Gender bias is ugly.

And the courts will decide what the truth is here.

If they were smart, they would solve these problems BEFORE allowing the matter to proceed to a court room.

#2 Posted by beetlejuice on July 12, 2008 at 1:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Lots of baseless discrimination claims are made by disciplined/terminated disgruntled employees. Hopefully, the trial will demonstate the truth of these allegations.

For many incompetents, it's the only card they can play.

#3 Posted by Bramble on July 12, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

NaplesTrek and Bramble are obviously posting about things they know nothing about. You obviously know none of the background of this case.

There were many incidences of discrimination, some very blatant. Anyone who is not treated fairly needs to stand up for themselves.

Honestly, these women are not trying to "scam" FGCU. They need to prove a point to some seriously chauvenisic pigs. I can't believe that, in this day and age, there are still men who feel so threatened by the success of women.

#4 Posted by bluesox on July 12, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Rather than admit the truth, the Good Ole Boys continue to hire their Good Ole Lawyers to try to bail them out of their misdeeds -- at the taxpayer's expense. It appears that we are up to our fourth law firm now and this mess still is not over:

1. Henderson Franklin - Fort Myers
2. flowers and Lockwood - Naples
3. Littler Mendelson - Washington, D.C.
4. Aaron Behar - Miami

When will the taxpayer's bleeding end?

#5 Posted by Bob1414 on July 12, 2008 at 11:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

misogyny is a revered biblical and American tradition; how dare these lesser vessels challenge the ancient holy decrees and tradition!

#6 Posted by prometheus on July 12, 2008 at 11:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

seriously, bleeding heart? That's what you call people who stand up for themselves? What would be the opposite? A pushover?

You googeld what? All the inappropriate comments made to these coaches by their athletic director? All the sexual innuendos made by the male staff? All the daily scenarios in the athletic department that were male oriented. You can't possibly know from a google search what went on in those offices and in the gym.

You make yourself sound so informed just because you "googled" something. Seriously.

#7 Posted by bluesox on July 12, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Bluesox is obviously not Flood, because the posts are too well written and the words are spelled correctly...for the most-part. You are obviously a friend of hers though, since you are spitting out info as if it were fed to you by her.
This suit will not go away until she realizes she did this to herself. She is the one who created the hostile environment. Those guys may be good old boys, but they can and have successfully worked with other females. Jaye's attitude was her own undoing. Unfortunately, Holly allowed herslef to be influenced too much by Jaye.

#8 Posted by Midwesterner on July 12, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Oh pullllleeez midwesterner, are U aware of FGCU's hiring and promotional policies at all?

They don't accept any form of paper resumes or applications, they have little accountability to anyone because there's no paper trail, especially taxpayers, they don't care about women in the workplace, and they are the EPITOMY OF THE GOOD OLE BOYS club, and the way they treat employees is mostly rude and uppity from Admin.... to faculty...to staff...if U R a woman, U can't play the game at FGCU unless U R an underling to a MAN....or severely underpaid in comparison to male counterparts.

Let's play golf shall we, and if yer a good ole buddy of mine, let's go hit another nine.

She may just win this case...and it will cost the taxpayers a lot of money.

If EEOC discrimination policies were followed in the first place, and ANY complaint policies were FOLLOWED, then she would not have the nasty attitude anyway.

It will cost taxpayers in the long run, and it is a case of pure ignorance on the part of the university.

#9 Posted by beetlejuice on July 12, 2008 at 8:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

gender bias? the most dominating teams are women, you walk into the arena and the first thing you see...a huge picture of a WOMENS basketball player. Yes, there are more male coaches and yes they do make more money. But women's basketball coaches make less than men's basketball coaches, and volleyball coaches definitely make less than a football or baseball or men's basketball coach...NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE. The fact is that men's sports still generate more fans and more revenue, and salaries reflect that. They have also tried to hire more women, but they have either last minute turned down the job or asked for a much higher salary.

#10 Posted by fgcualum2918 on October 22, 2008 at 7:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)



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