UT-Austin Discrimination Case Centered On Ex-Track Coach Can Proceed: Texas Supreme Court

AUSTIN, TX — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday refused to block a sex and discrimination lawsuit filed against the University of Texas at Austin by a former women's track force force out after details about a past romantic relationship with a student athlete emerged, according to news reports.

Bev Kearney, a former women's track coach at the university, alleges she was forced out after school officials learned of a romantic relationship she had with one of her athletes a decade earlier. In her lawsuit, Kearney claims that she was held to a tougher standard of conduct given that she is a black woman, according to various media reports. The lawsuit cites the example of former football assistance Major Applehite, who was merely reprimanded after school officials learned he had engaged in a sexual liaison with a female student trainer during a 2009 bowl trip.

As reported by the Austin American-Statesman, Kearney's attorneys are now deciding who to depose in defending Kearney, confirming they plan to interview former football coach Mack Brown and athletics director DeLoss Dodds.

University officials have managed to delay the case for years through appeals, an attorney for Kearney said.

Kearney, who has since moved to Los Angeles, resigned on January 2013 as the UT women's track team coach after learning she was to be fired for having had a relationship with one of her athletes back in 2002, the Statesman reported. The former coach—who led Texas to six national titles—acknowledged her past intimate relationship during meetings with UT-Austin officials in the fall of 2012, according to the report.

The following year, she filed a lawsuit in district court seeking $1 million in damages from the school. The crux of the lawsuit centers on what Kearney's lawyers view as a double standard by the university in meting out disciplinary action, citing the case of Applewhite.

Moreover, the suit claims “...there were other coaches within the University’s Athletic Department, current and former law school professors, current and former professors within the University’s undergraduate school, and a department chairperson," who had similar transgressions, according to the report. "Based on information and belief, a high level administrator within the University’s Athletic Department has carried on a prolonged intimate relationship of approximately three years with a subordinate employee with whom he has direct involvement in setting her pay,” the Statesman quoted from the lawsuit.

Had Kearney been allowed to complete the school year in 2013, she would have been the third-highest paid track coach in the country with a benefits package valued at $304,000, according to the report. By way of comparison, Pat Henry at Texas A&M University who coaches both men and women, was the highest paid nationally at $475,000. Oregon’s Robert Johnson, who also was both the men’s and women’s teams, earned $400,000, according to the Statesman.

The same year Kearney resigned, Applewhite admitted to his own liaison with a student, a romantic rendezvous with a student during the Longhorn's trip to the Fiesta Bowl after the 2008 season, as USA Today and numerous other media outlets reported at the time.

According to a letter from Applewhite's personnel file provided to USA TODAY Sports, athletics director Dodds and Applewhite met to discuss the incident on Jan. 30, 2009, and Applewhite was given until two weeks following Feb. 5 of that year to begin meeting with a counselor. Consequently, Applewhite's salary was frozen until Jan. 1, 2010, a letter of reprimand placed in his personnel file and a vow assessed that "...any misconduct on your part in the future will result in more serious consequences," USA Today reported at the time.

But unlike Kearney, Applewhite wasn't threatened with being fired. A former Longhorns quarterback who was married at the time of the dalliance with the student, expressed embarrassment over the affair and said he and his wife overcame his transgression.

"It was a one-time occurrence and was a personal matter," USA Today quoted Applewhite as saying at the time. "Shortly after it occurred, I discussed the situation with DeLoss Dodds. I was up front and took full responsibility for my actions. This is and was resolved by the university four years ago. Through counsel, I have worked with my wife and the incident is behind us."

Reached by Patch for a reaction, UT-Austin spokesman J.B. Bird declined comment while citing the pending nature of the litigation. "As a policy, the university does not discuss personnel matters and generally does not comment on litigation in the media," Bird wrote in an email to Patch. "Arguments in this matter will be made through the legal system."

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