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A Minnesota jury just sided with a college women’s hockey coach in her discrimination lawsuit

"It's a big day for women...especially women in college athletics."

University of Minnesota - Duluth Women's Hockey head coach Shannon Miller celebrates after winning the  Division I Women's Ice Hockey Championship. Miller recently won a suit against the university, which she says fired her unjustly. (Credit: Carlos Gonzalez/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
University of Minnesota - Duluth Women's Hockey head coach Shannon Miller celebrates after winning the Division I Women's Ice Hockey Championship. Miller recently won a suit against the university, which she says fired her unjustly. (Credit: Carlos Gonzalez/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

On December 6, 2014, Shannon Miller coached her University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs to a 4-1 win over Ohio State. It was her team’s 11th win in its last 13 games, propelling them to the #7 ranking in the country in Women’s Division I hockey. It was also career win number 375 for Miller — more wins than all but three coaches in NCAA Division I history.

Nine days later, she was effectively fired.

In a press release by the university, Athletics Director Josh Berlo said that the decision not to renew her contract after the 2014-2015 season was one of economics: Miller, as arguably the most decorated coach in NCAA women’s hockey, was also the sport’s highest paid coach. But she also stated she would be willing to take a pay cut — even greater than the $93,000 gap between her salary and the salary of her counterpart on the men’s team — in order to remain in the job. Instead, the university let her go.

Shortly thereafter, Miller filed suit against the school, arguing that her termination was in fact the result of discrimination, and that the university retaliated against her for filing Title IX complaints while she was employed. On Thursday, a Minnesota jury returned a verdict in her favor, ruling that UM-Duluth must pay her $3.74 million in lost wages and emotional distress.

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“It’s a big day for women,” Miller said from the steps in front of the courthouse. “Women in general, but especially women in college athletics.”

She’s right. The disparity between men’s and women’s sports is stark across the board, but nowhere more so than on college campuses. While men’s basketball and football are each multi-billion dollar enterprises, women’s sports languish. As was the case with Miller, women coaches routinely receive a fraction of the salary that men earn. The very foundation upon which Title IX was first introduced in Congress was the lack of equal opportunity on college campuses for women who wanted to participate in organized sports.

Miller’s dismissal was not an isolated incident, nor was it confined to misogyny. In a separate lawsuit filed by Miller and two other Duluth women’s coaches, she recounted receiving several letters in her office mailbox referring to her as a “dyke.” They were written on Athletics Department stationary. In a separate incident, the word was scrawled on a post-it note and left hanging where the nameplate on her office door should have been. That suit was initially thrown out in federal court on a technicality, but is expected to be refiled this year in state court.

The school’s Athletics Director and Chancellor were both in attendance for the verdict, and both remained unapologetic.

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“I want to say I’m extremely disappointed in this decision and very surprised by the decision,” said Chancellor Lendley Black on Thursday. “I still stand behind the actions that I took at UMD, and know personally why I made the decisions I made.” The school’s top attorney did not comment on whether they would appeal the case.

Miller’s former players expressed their support and gratitude for their former coach after the verdict was announced.

“Coach: Yet again you have taught us what it means to be strong, proud, daring and hard as steel,” one former player wrote on social media. “Yet again you have taught to not shut up and to fight for our rights. Yet again you have taught us, that perseverance and resilience do pay off. And most importantly: Yet again you paved the way for all of us.”

Women athletes have made headway in the last few years in addressing issues of equal treatment and pay equity. In tennis, the prize money for men and women at the four major tournaments was finally made equal in 2007 (though to this day, men question whether the women deserve it). In women’s soccer, the reigning World Cup champions on the Women’s National Team successfully lobbied for a new contract last year that came with a significant pay increase and better travel accommodations.

Women’s hockey in particular notched a resounding win last year after the women’s national team threatened to boycott the World Championships if USA Hockey did not take corrective action to fairly compensate players, who were until that point paid just $6,000 every four years. USA Hockey conceded, agreeing to pay players an annual salary of $70,000 and provide the women with the same travel and insurance benefits as the men’s team.