Monday, August 06, 2012

Oregon father proceeds with lawsuit

We noted last month that Randy Anderson, the father of a softball player at Oregon's Seaside High School, was planning on filing a lawsuit because no girls' team was slated to play at the new sports complex, which seems to have been designed around the needs/parameters of boys' sports, i.e. baseball.
Well it appears that Anderson's almost actions inspired a reconsideration of how the field was to be used. A recent announcement about the events the field would host included girls' varsity softball.
But Anderson still plans of pursuing action against the school for gender discrimination that violates Title IX. Though the article cited above refers to Anderson's intended action as lawsuit-based, it would make more sense if it was a complaint filed with OCR since the gender inequities Anderson wants remedied (coaching, facilities, transportation, equipment) seem to affect girls' athletics generally and not specifically the softball team on which Anderson's daughter plays (thus giving him standing in a lawsuit). But we shall see what course of action(s) are taken by both Anderson and the school district in the coming weeks and months.