FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EIA Asks Supreme Court to Revisit Michigan's High School Scheduling

Court Guidance Needed to Limit Discrimination Suits to Actual Discrimination

February 28, 2007 -- Roanoke, Virginia -- In an amicus curiae brief filed today, Equity in Athletics, Inc. (EIA) asked the Supreme Court to review a decision from the Sixth Circuit that found the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) to have violated Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause in the scheduling of athletic teams. Although EIA supported MHSAA on the merits of its claims, EIA disagreed with MHSAA on the threshold issue of whether Title IX preempts a cause of action under the Equal Protection Clause.

On the merits, EIA agreed with MHSAA that, to prove gender discrimination under Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant took the challenged action because of the plaintiff's gender, not merely in spite of a gender-correlated impact of the defendant's actions. Against MHSAA's preemption argument, EIA argued that "[t]his nation did not fight a civil war and amend its Constitution so that Congress – much less federal bureaucrats – could impose or authorize unconstitutional treatment as a condition of federal funding."

For More Information Contact:

Equity in Athletics, Inc.
1711 Grandin Rd., SW, Roanoke, VA 24015
Internet: info@equityinathletics.org

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