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Connecticut: Pregnant athlete files discrimination suit
Off Our Backs, Jul/Aug 2003 by Mizus, Marisa, Moody, Maryam, Privado, Cindy, Douglas, Carol Anne, Et al
A pregnant scholarship athlete has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against her university under Title IX. Tara Brady, who attends Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, is suing the school after experi-encing a scholarship revocation as a result of her decision to carry her pregnancy to term.
According to FindLaw.com columnist Joanna Grossman, Brady's basketball coach requested that she leave school on the grounds that she would be a "distraction." Although Brady allegedly requested "medical redshirt" status after informing her coach of her pregnancy, she failed to register her for it and her scholarship was revoked.
Title IX protects against discrimination on the basis of sex, including pregnancy discrimination, and prohibits schools receiving federal funding to exclude a pregnant student from any activities. Under the law, Brady's request to receive medical redshirt status should have been accommodated as a "temporary disability," and she should have been permitted to take the leave of absence Title IX entitles her to.
Brady is the first pregnant scholarship athlete to sue under Title IX, but her case's outcome is expected to set the model for other pregnant students at federally funded educational institutions.
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