By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday revived a sex discrimination claim against the University of Connecticut (UConn) by a former soccer player whose scholarship was revoked after she raised her middle finger to a television camera during a nationally broadcast championship game.
A three-judge panel of the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a jury should decide whether UConn in 2014 punished Noriana Radwan more harshly, because of her sex, than male student-athletes who engaged in misconduct, as she alleges in a 2016 lawsuit.
A Connecticut federal judge had dismissed Radwan’s claim that UConn violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs.
UConn and lawyers for Radwan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Radwan made the gesture while celebrating with her team after UConn defeated the University of South Florida to win a conference title. Radwan was suspended from further tournament games and ultimately lost her athletic scholarship.
The 2nd Circuit panel on Wednesday said Radwan’s Title IX claim should move forward because she had shown that male scholarship athletes at UConn who engaged in misconduct faced far less serious consequences.
A male soccer player arrested for theft received a warning and a football player who kicked a dead ball into the stands during a game was not disciplined at all, the court said.
The 2nd Circuit affirmed the judge’s dismissal of Radwan’s separate claims that UConn violated her constitutional rights to free speech and due process by disciplining her.
The case is Radwan v. University of Connecticut Board of Trustees, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-2194.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, N.Y.; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
