article: On December 10, 2014, two student-athletes brought this discrimination action against Pepperdine University in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles. The plaintiffs alleged that the university administration, athletic department, and women’s basketball coach coordinated to discriminate against them because of their same-sex relationship, resulting in dismissal from the basketball team and loss of athletic scholarships, which forced them to leave school. The plaintiffs’ complaint asserted state claims for violation of rights under the California Constitution and California state law and federal claims for violation of Title IX. Represented by private counsel, the plaintiffs sought monetary damages. On January 14, 2015, the defendants removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The plaintiffs then amended the complaint on February 5, 2015. Two weeks later, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. On April 16, 2015, Federal District Judge Dean D. Pregerson issued an order granting in part and denying in part the defendants' motion to dismiss. Specifically, the court denied the motion to dismiss the invasion of privacy claim as to the plaintiffs' sexual orientation and the violations of California’s Educational Code or invasion of privacy via medical records. Further, since the plaintiffs did not contest Pepperdine’s assertion that Title IX does not cover sexual orientation discrimination, the court dismissed Title IX claims with leave to amend. 100 F. Supp. 3d 927. On June 9, 2015, the plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint, claiming that Title IX covered gender stereotype discrimination. That same day, the defendants again filed a motion to dismiss the Title IX claim, claiming the statute's prohibition on the "basis of sex" did not cover sexual orientation. On December 15, 2015, Judge Pregerson denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding “the distinction is illusory and artificial, and that sexual orientation discrimination is not a category distinct from sex or gender discrimination”, and that “claims of sexual orientation discrimination are gender stereotype or sex discrimination claims.” 150 F. Supp. 3d 1151. The parties proceeded with discovery from March 2016 to August 2017. Trial was held from July 18, 2017 to August 11, 2017. On August 11, 2017, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant on all claims. The court entered a judgement based on the verdict on September 11, 2017. The plaintiffs filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (No. 17-56548) on October 12, 2017. A mediation conference was scheduled for November 28, 2017 and on December 15, 2017, the plaintiffs filed a joint motion to dismiss the appeal. There were no further developments in the District Court and the case is closed.
summary: On December 10, 2014, two student-athletes brought a discrimination action against Pepperdine University alleging that the university discriminated against them because of their same-sex relationship. They were dismissed from the basketball team and lost their athletic scholarships, which forced them to leave school. A jury returned a verdict in favor of the university on August 11, 2017. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit but later dismissed their appeal and the case is now closed.