Yegidis Seeks New Trial

The Naples Daily News is reporting that former FGCU Provost Bonnie Yegidis is moving for a new trial. Last month, a jury concluded that her removal from the provost position was not retaliation for her role in challenging sex discrimination in the university's athletics program. But Yegidis is arguing that the judge's decisions in advance of trial to limit certain witnesses' testimony were improper and influenced the jury's verdict. In particular, the judge limited the testimony of key witnesses Merrily Dean Baker, the former athletics director, and Wendy Morris, the former general counsel, who like Yegidis both encouraged university president to meaningfully investigate coaches' claims of discrimination against women's sports and female coaches. The judge limited the testimony out of concern that the coaches' and Morris's lawsuits, which produced six and seven-figure settlements, could improperly bias the jury against FGCU. But Yegidis's motion for a new trial raises the argument that these restrictions went too far and resulted in an incomplete picture of Yegidis's perception of discrimination and her role in challenging it -- both crucial elements to a retaliation claim.

Jury Finds for FGCU in Retaliation Case

Today it's reported that after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation, a federal court jury in Florida found that Florida Gulf Coast University did not violate Title IX's prohibition on retaliation when President Wilson Bradshaw demoted Bonnie Yegidis from her position as provost. Specifically, the jury found that Yegidis did not present enough evidence to prove the first required element for a retaliation claim, that she engaged in protected conduct by blowing the whistle on discrimination. Yegidis had alleged that she was fired for urging the President to take seriously the complaints about Title IX violations presented by the university's female coaches. This article in the Naples Daily News suggests that the jury might not have seen her as whistleblower because FGCU presented evidence that Bradshaw already knew about the Title IX concerns and Yegidis was not telling him things that others weren't already.

Yegidis, who is now a Professor of Social Work at the University of South Florida, has not said whether she plans to appeal the verdict. She did tell the press that she's disappointed in the verdict and hopes that it doesn't "send a message to people -- to men and women -- that they can't bring cases forward."

Yegidis v. FGCU Day 1

In a Florida federal court, a trial began Tuesday in the Title IX retaliation case between Florida Gulf Coast University and its former provost Bonnie Yegidis, who was fired from the position, she alleges, because she urged the president to take seriously coaches' allegations of gender discrimination in athletics. According to press, FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw testified consistent with the university's defense that Yegidis was fired instead for being part of an ineffective "hornets' nest" of a senior management team. While acknowledging her positive evaluations and past performance, he nevertheless characterized Yegidis as "such a disruptive force that I had to take action."

Former Athletic Director Merrily Dean Baker also took the stand and described her role in underlying Title IX dispute, meeting with female coaches and compiling their concerns about discrimination in a letter to Bradshaw's predecessor, Richard Pegnetter.

No Summary Judgment for FGCU in Ex-Provost's Retaliation Case

Bonnie Yegidis, we've recently mentioned, is the last plaintiff with outstanding Title IX claims against Florida Gulf Coast University stemming from alleged 2007 mass retaliation against female coaches who complained to administration about gender inequity in the athletics department. To recap, Yegidis was the provost at the time, and tried to get the President to take the charges seriously. She also defended general counsel Wendy Morris, who was fired for similar efforts. In alleged response, President Wilson Bradshaw forced her to resign her administrative position.

FGCU recently moved for summary judgment on Yegidis's Title IX retaliation claim, but a federal judge in Florida ruled against the motion and allowed Yegidis's claim to proceed to trial. Specifically, the court agreed that Yegidis had produced evidence in support of the essential elements of a retaliation claim: that she engaged in protected activity by complaining about perceived discriminatory and retaliatory conduct in athletics, which bore a causal connection to her termination in that it occurred after Yegidis spoke to the then-incoming President about her concerns. This part of the opinion was significant for legal reasons, as it recognized that the First Amendment test for protected conduct, which requires employee to be speaking in the personal rather than professional capacity, is not applicable to Title IX claims (see related posts here and here). Also, Yegidis produced evidence to counter FGCU's stated legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for her termination -- that she and others in the administration's senior management did not work well together. Specifically, the judge credited Yegidis's evidence that other members of dysfunctional management team who did not complain about the Title IX investigation were retained, that the President terminated her without ever addressing her Title IX concerns, and that her termination was not warranted by her credentials and job performance, as sufficient for a jury to find that the FGCU's stated reason was pretext for retaliation.

While the judge's decision did pave the way for trial on the retaliation claim, it was the end of the road for her claim that FGCU's sexually hostile environment also violated Title IX. Following the practice of other district courts in the 11th Circuit, the court held that the general federal employment discrimination statute, Title VII, provides the exclusive remedy for such claims, and Yegidis needed to have filed with the EEOC before bringing such a claim to federal court.

Decision: Yegidis v. FGCU, No. 2:09-CV-00353-CEH-DNF (M.D. Fla. Jan. 21, 2011) (memorandum of order denying summary judgment).

FGCU Trial On the Horizon

The Naples Daily News reports that the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Florida Gulf Coast University's former provost Bonnie Yegidis will soon go to trial. Yegidis has claimed that FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw forced her to resign her in retaliation for urging a thorough investigation of female coaches' Title IX concerns. Pretrial motions are scheduled for later this month, which will be followed by juror-selection and a two- to three-day trial.

At one time, four lawsuits had been filed against FGCU arising out of the university's response to coaches' allegations of sex discrimination in athletics. But the university settled with former coaches Jaye Flood ($2.96 million) and Holly Vaughn ($435,000), as well as former university counsel Wendy Morris ($800,000). Yegidis's lawsuit is the only one that is still heading towards trial. In light of the earlier settlements, it will be interesting to see what a jury decides on the questions of the university's liability and damages.