Details on Portland Case Remain Sealed

According to The Daily Collegian, a federal district judge in Pennsylvania has denied a plaintiff's subpoena for information about Penn State's response to Jennifer Harris's discrimination complaint against former coach Rene Portland, which remains sealed under the terms of settlement that ended that case. As we noted last month, the plaintiff, professor Constance Matthews, sought the information to help her build her own discrimination against Penn State, which she alleges denied her promotion because of her sexual orientation and advocacy for gender equity. The judge denied Matthews's attempt to subpoena information from Portland and AD Tim Curley. He reasoned that evidence of discrimination in one university department, like athletics, is not relevant to a charges of discrimination by another university department, a distinction recognized by federal courts. He also said that it would be unduly burdensome to force Curley and Portland to comply.