Temple Suit Finally Goes to Trial

Former women athletes at Temple University in Philadelphia are seeking $1.8 million and an order that the school treat women’s athletics more equitably as their 8-year-old class-action sex-discrimination suit goes to trial today.

The suit claims that half of Temple’s undergraduates are women, but only 20% of its intercollegiate athletics expenditures goes to women’s sports, though 35% of its athletes are women.

“This case goes beyond equity in women’s athletics and has broad implications for the law’s ability to safeguard legal questions of equity in all educational opportunities,” says Ellen Vargyas, senior attorney for the National Women’s Law Center, which is co-representing the plaintiffs.

Attorney Robert J. Reinstein says the school owes no apology for the discrepancy between men’s and women’s spending.

“Our policy is to support each team with enough resources to compete effectively,” he said.