Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

The New Gender Panic In Sport: Why State Laws Banning Transgender Athletes Are Unconstitutional, Deborah Brake

Articles

The scope and pace of legislative activity targeting transgender individuals is nothing short of a gender panic. From restrictions on medical care to the regulation of library books and the use of pronouns in schools, attacks on the transgender community have reached crisis proportions. A growing number of families with transgender children are being forced to leave their states of residence to keep their children healthy and their families safe and intact. The breadth and pace of these developments is striking. Although the anti-transgender backlash now extends broadly into health and family governance, sport was one of the first settings—the …

Florida Institute Of Technology Ordered To Reinstate Men's Rowing After Title Ix Complaint, Emily J. Houghton, Erica J. Zonder

Human Performance Department Publications

In February 2023, the U.S. District Court in Florida issued a preliminary injunction in favor of six male student-athletes from Florida Institute of Technology who alleged that the university violated Title IX. The male student-athletes filed the lawsuit against Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in 2022. The student-athletes claimed FIT violated Title IX when the university eliminated rowing and other programs.

Title Ix's Trans Panic, Deborah L. Brake

Articles

Sport is an agent of social change, but that change does not always track in a progressive direction. Sport can be a site for contesting and reversing the gains of progressive social movements as much as furthering the values of equality and justice for historically marginalized groups. This dynamic of contestation and reversal is now playing out in a new wave of anti-transgender backlash that has gained adherents among some proponents of equal athletic opportunities for girls and women. In this latest twist in the debate over who deserves the opportunity to compete, the sex-separate athletic programming permitted by Title …

Home Field Advantage: Is “The Supreme Court Of Sport” Independent?, Jakob S. Weitz

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Title Ix Sex Discrimination & Negligence Lawsuit Against Fargo Public School District & The Board Of Education Partially Dismissed, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

Brian and Jennifer Berg filed a lawsuit as individuals and on behalf of their daughter Regan against the Fargo Public School District (FPSD) and the Board of Education in the City of Fargo in 2021. They argued that Regan faced sex discrimination, deliberate indifference under Title IX, the FPSD Handbook and negligence from FPSD following an alleged sexual assault by a male student off-campus.

Title Ix At 50: Exploring The Impact Of The Law On Cases Of Sexual Misconduct And Participation Equity In Athletics, Erica J. Zonder, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

June 23, 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX; during that time frame there has been a drastic increase in girl’s and women’s participation in sport. There has also been significant political debate and push back to Title IX which has threatened to undermine the impact of the law. Over the last 10 years, Title IX has been synonymous with litigation related to sexual harassment and transgender athlete participation in sport. Additionally, universities have continually sought to cut women’s sports under the guise of budgetary constraints. The purpose of this poster presentation is three-fold: 1) Review recent case …

Terminated Asu Women's Lacrosse Coach Files Retaliation And Wrongful Termination Lawsuit, Erica J. Zonder, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

Courtney Connor, the former women’s lacrosse coach at Arizona State University, sued the University and the Arizona Board of Regents (collectively, “ASU”) for Title VII and Title IX retaliation, as well as wrongful termination.

An Unexpected Result Of Gender Equality Initiatives In Sports - The Sexualization Of Female Athletes, Renalia Dubose

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Title Ix Administers A Booster Shot: The Effect Of Private Donations On Title Ix, Charlotte Franklin

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities. Since its enactment, Title IX has dramatically increased interscholastic and intercollegiate athletic opportunities for women and girls. Despite indisputable progress since Title IX’s enactment, particularly for female athletes, many high schools and universities still fail to offer equal athletic opportunities for members of both sexes. Inadequate educational resources for high school and university athletic department administrators leads to a misunderstanding of Title IX’s requirements. This misunderstanding results in institutional misconduct and non-compliance with Title IX. In …

Fair Play: Notes On The Algorithmic Soccer Referee, Michael J. Madison

Articles

The soccer referee stands in for a judge. Soccer’s Video Assistant Referee (“VAR”) system stands in for algorithms that augment human deciders. Fair play stands in for justice. They are combined and set in a polycentric system of governance, with implications for designing, administering, and assessing human-machine combinations.

Buffer Zones And The Recreational Golf Sector: A Negligence Case Content Analysis, Natalie Bird

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Buffer zones are a risk management method used within sport and recreation to protect participants and spectators from avoidable injury. Within the recreational golf sector, buffer zone standards do not exist. This poses a problem as golf courses in the recreational sector serve a wide range of customers in terms of age, skill level, and experience. A legal case content analysis of 1,561 golf negligence lawsuits aimed to answer research questions related to locations of incidents, circumstances that led to injury, and injuries or damages that were the result of errant golf shots. A Westlaw search provided the data for …

Law Library Blog (April 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Clear Statement Rules And The Integrity Of Labor Arbitration, Stephen Ross, Roy Eisenhardt

Arbitration Law Review

Under the common law, employment contracts are submitted to civil courts to resolve disputes over interpretation, breach, and remedies. As an alternative, parties in collective bargaining agreements, can agree to dispute resolution by an independent arbitrator, whose decision is reviewed deferentially by judges. Where employees or members of an association are governed by its internal rules, in contrast, they often agree contractually to submit internal disputes to an association officer or committee. In this circumstance, the common law governing private associations affords judicial review that is more limited than a civil dispute, but more searching than is the case for …

A Public At Risk: Personal Fitness Trainers Without A Standard Of Care, Margaret E. Ciccolella, J. Mark Van Ness, Tommy Boone

J. Mark VanNess

In 2002, an overweight, sedentary, and middle-aged man suffered a heart attack during his first workout with his “certified” personal trainer. During the workout, the man repeatedly asked to stop because he was experiencing fatigue, heat, thirst, breathlessness, and chest pain. The trainer responded to requests to stop and complaints of fatigue by questioning his client’s masculinity and by continuing the workout. In the lawsuit that followed (Rostai v. Neste Enterprises, 2006), the court did not have the option to consider a statutorily defined standard of care since no licensing requirements existed for those who design and/or lead fitness programs. …

A Public At Risk: Personal Fitness Trainers Without A Standard Of Care, Margaret E. Ciccolella, J. Mark Van Ness, Tommy Boone

Margaret Ciccolella

In 2002, an overweight, sedentary, and middle-aged man suffered a heart attack during his first workout with his “certified” personal trainer. During the workout, the man repeatedly asked to stop because he was experiencing fatigue, heat, thirst, breathlessness, and chest pain. The trainer responded to requests to stop and complaints of fatigue by questioning his client’s masculinity and by continuing the workout. In the lawsuit that followed (Rostai v. Neste Enterprises, 2006), the court did not have the option to consider a statutorily defined standard of care since no licensing requirements existed for those who design and/or lead fitness programs. …

Daily Fantasy Sports Go “All In”: The Demise Of American Morals?, James Schwabe

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

The future of Daily Fantasy Sports throughout the United States remains uncertain. Although there have been numerous attempts to double down on the spread of gambling, the growing attraction to gamble has not been suppressed. With the recent proposed legislation and litigation over the legality of Daily Fantasy Sports, a new debate has emerged that implicates America’s desire to protect its “public morals.” Part I of this Note will discuss the intricacies of Daily Fantasy Sports and the allegations against FanDuel and DraftKings as of February 2016. Part II will analyze the current legal framework surrounding global internet gambling and …

Leading New Lawyers: Leadership And Legal Education, Michael J. Madison

Articles

Lawyers may become leaders, but leaders also may become lawyers. The path to leadership can begin in law school. This short essay describes a leadership development course developed and implemented at a law school over the last four years.

Lessons From The Gender Equality Movement: Using Title Ix To Foster Inclusive Masculinities In Men's Sport, Deborah L. Brake

Articles

This article was written for a symposium issue in Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice on the topic of LGBT inclusion in sports. The symposium, which was held at the University of Minnesota Law School in November of 2015, was precipitated by the controversy that erupted when NFL player Chris Kluwe sued and settled with the Minnesota Vikings for allegedly firing him over his outspoken support for marriage equality. The article situates the Chris Kluwe controversy in the broader context of masculinity in men’s sports. At a time when support for LGBT rights has resulted in striking …

No More Mind Games: Content Analysis Of In-Game Commentary Of The National Football League’S Concussion Problem, Jeffrey Parker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

American (gridiron) football played at the professional level in the National Football League (NFL) is an inherently physical spectator sport, in which players frequently engage in significant contact to the head and upper body. Until recently, the long-term health consequences associated with on the field head trauma were not fully disclosed to players or the public, potentially misrepresenting the dangers involved in gameplay. Crucial to the dissemination of this information to the public are in-game televised commentators of NFL games, regarded as the primary conduits for mediating in-game narratives to the viewing audience. Using a social constructionist theoretical lens, this …

College Athletic Departments As Media Organizations And The Regulation Of Content: Issues For The Digital Age, Steve Dittmore

Steve Dittmore

No abstract provided.

Gaming The System: The Exemption Of Professional Sports Teams From The Fair Labor Standards Act, Charlotte S. Alexander, Nathaniel Grow

Faculty Publications By Year

This article examines a little known exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act relieving seasonal recreational or amusement employers from their obligation to pay the minimum wage and overtime. After evaluating the existing, confused case law surrounding the exemption, we propose a new, simplified framework for applying the provision. We then apply this framework to a recent wave of FLSA lawsuits brought by cheerleaders, minor league baseball players, and stadium workers against professional sports teams. The article concludes by considering the policy implications of exempting this class of employers from the FLSA's wage and hour requirements.

Ohio Athletic Trainer's Reactions To New Ohio Concussion Legislation, Alexander K. Heaton

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This research examines the effects that concussion legislation has had on how Certified Athletic Trainers practice medicine in the state of Ohio. In the spring of 2009, the state of Washington passed a bill that would change how concussions are handled in youth sports. According to the legislation, all athletes who display any signs and symptoms of a concussion are to be removed immediately from play and are not able to return to play until cleared by a licensed professional health care provider. Since then, concussion legislation of some form has been passed in every state, with Ohio passing its …

Lessons From The Nba Lockout: Union Democracy, Public Support, And The Folly Of The National Basketball Players Association, Matthew J. Parlow

Matthew Parlow

Wrestling With Gender: Constructing Masculinity By Refusing To Wrestle Women, Deborah Brake

Articles

In February of 2011, an Iowa high school boy captured national attention when he refused to wrestle a girl at the state championship meet. The media shaped the story into a tale that honored the boy for sacrificing personal gain out of a moral imperative to “never hurt a girl.” Unpacking this incident reveals several “fault lines” in U.S. culture that often derail gender equality projects: (1) religion/morality is interposed as an oppositional and equally weighty social value that neutralizes an equality claim; (2) the agency of persons supporting traditional gender norms is assumed, while the agency of persons contesting …

Discrimination Inward And Upward: Lessons On Law And Social Inequality From The Troubling Case Of Women Coaches, Deborah L. Brake

Articles

In the Title IX success story, women’s opportunities in coaching jobs have not kept pace with the striking gains made by female athletes. Women’s share of jobs coaching female athletes has declined substantially in the years since the law was enacted, moving from more than 90% to below 43% today. As a case study, the situation of women coaches contains important lessons about the ability of discrimination law to promote social equality. This article highlights one feature of bias against women coaches — gender bias by female athletes — as a counter-paradigm that presents a challenge to the dominant frame …

Sport And Masculinity: The Promise And Limits Of Title Ix, Deborah Brake

Book Chapters

This paper uses the lens of masculinities theory to examine the connections between sport and masculinity and considers how law both reinforces and intervenes in sport’s production of masculinity. The paper urges moving beyond a "women vs. men" framework for examining gender equality in sport to include critical study of sport’s relationship to masculinities. The primary law examined in this chapter is Title IX of the Education Amendments in 1972, which is widely (and properly) credited with the explosive growth of women’s sports in the intervening decades. While Title IX has greatly expanded the range of culturally valued femininities for …

Is It Cheating To Use Cheetahs?: The Implications Of Technologically Innovative Prostheses For Sports Values And Rules, Patricia J. Zettler

Faculty Publications By Year

This Article uses the case of Oscar Pistorius – the South African runner and amputee who competed with blade-like, lower-leg prostheses – to analyze how the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF), the world governing body of track and field, should regulate elite athletes’ use of innovative prostheses. The Article argues that the Court of Arbitration of Sport correctly decided that Pistorius should be permitted to compete in able-bodied competitions, but that the IAAF rule on which the decision was based failed to account for the full range of sports values implicated by the use innovative prostheses. The Article proposes …

A Public At Risk: Personal Fitness Trainers Without A Standard Of Care, Margaret E. Ciccolella, J. Mark Van Ness, Tommy Boone

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

In 2002, an overweight, sedentary, and middle-aged man suffered a heart attack during his first workout with his “certified” personal trainer. During the workout, the man repeatedly asked to stop because he was experiencing fatigue, heat, thirst, breathlessness, and chest pain. The trainer responded to requests to stop and complaints of fatigue by questioning his client’s masculinity and by continuing the workout. In the lawsuit that followed (Rostai v. Neste Enterprises, 2006), the court did not have the option to consider a statutorily defined standard of care since no licensing requirements existed for those who design and/or lead fitness programs. …

The Invisible Pregnant Athlete And The Promise Of Title Ix, Deborah Brake

Articles

The question of how law should respond to women who become pregnant, and whether to specially accommodate pregnancy or analogize it to other conditions, features prominently in virtually every area of sex equality law. In debates over women's equality in the workplace, for example, it has been the defining issue for the development of and debate over various models of equality in feminist legal theory. Until recently, however, the issue has been all but absent in debates and discussion about Title IX and its promise of sex equality in sports. This changed suddenly in 2007, when ESPN televised a program …

The Heart Of The Game: Putting Race And Educational Equity At The Center Of Title Ix, Deborah L. Brake, Verna L. Williams

Articles

This article examines how race and educational equity issues shape women's sports experiences, building upon the narrative of Darnellia Russell, a high school basketball player profiled in the documentary The Heart of the Game. Darnellia is a star player who, because of an unintended pregnancy, has to fight to play the game she loves.

This girl's story provides a unique and underutilized lens through which to examine gender and athletics, as well as evaluate the legal framework for gender equality in sport. In focusing on this narrative, we seek to give voice to black female athletes and to express their …