Female Teacher Presented Sufficient Evidence That Gender Was A Factor In The Decision Not To Hire Her As The Boys' Varsity Basketball Coach

This suit arises from the 1999 decision by the School District of the City of Hazel Park to hire John Barnett rather than Geraldine Fuhr for the vacant position of boys' varsity basketball coach. At that time, Barnett, a relatively new male teacher at Hazel Park, had coached the boys' freshman basketball team for two years. On the other hand, Fuhr, a female teacher at Hazel Park, had been the head coach of the girls' varsity basketball team for some ten years, and coach of the boys' junior varsity and assistant coach of the boys' varsity basketball teams for eight years.

In 1999, Charles Kirkland, the boys' varsity basketball coach, announced his intention to retire from coaching at the end of the year. Fuhr and Barnett were the only individuals who applied for the post. At the same time, David Aldred, who had been the Hazel Park High School athletic director for thirteen or fourteen years, announced that he was retiring on July 1, 1999. The committee assembled to interview the candidates for the position consisted of Superintendent James Anker; Dan Grant, the district athletic director; Victor Mayo, the assistant superintendent; Jim Meisinger, the high school principal; and Tom Pratt, the individual replacing Aldred as the high school athletic director. Neither Aldred nor Kirkland, both of whom who supported Fuhr for the coaching job, was on the committee. According to Aldred, Grant told him that Anker did not want Aldred to participate in the interviews.

The committee interviewed Barnett first, followed immediately by Fuhr. Anker, who made the ultimate hiring decision, left Fuhr's interview shortly after it started and did not return. In the committee conference following the interviews, some members expressed concerns about unspecified community complaints against Fuhr and the idea that Fuhr would be coaching two major varsity sports in quick succession. Anker eventually returned to the meeting and, according to Meisinger, informed the committee that several members of the school board did not want Fuhr to be named the boys' varsity basketball coach, and that "he had to comply with their request." According to Aldred, this story was supported by comments made by Clint Adkins, the board president, who said he was "very concerned about a female being the head boys' basketball coach in Hazel Park." A day after the interview, Anker announced that Barnett would be the new boys' varsity basketball coach.

Fuhr subsequently filed suit alleging sexual discrimination under Title VII. The jury returned a verdict in Fuhr's favor. Hazel Park appealed, arguing that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law for two reasons: first, that Fuhr failed to establish a prima facie case of gender discrimination; and second, that Hazel Park offered legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for its failure to hire Fuhr. The 6th Circuit rejected both contentions, and affirmed the jury’s verdict.

Fuhr v. School District of the City of Hazel Park

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The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction includes Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

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