Shannon Miller, ex-UMD hockey coach, files federal discrimination lawsuit
After 16 seasons, Shannon Miller didn’t have her contract renewed as the head coach of the University of Minnesota-Duluth women’s hockey team after the 2014 season. The program had struggled for the last few seasons, failing to make the NCAA tournament since 2011 and going 3-24-7 against rivals Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.
But instead of justifying her dismissal on competitive grounds, the school publicly cited finances as the determining factor. Which was an epic, massive, titanic misjudgment, given claims made for years that women who are NCAA coaches face as “salary ceiling.”
Said Miller, to the Star Tribune: “This is a slap in the face to our gender. I’m concerned about what this says to society about the value of women.”
On Monday, Miller and two other UMD coaches slapped back: They filed a federal lawsuit against the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota, “claiming discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender, age, and national origin, as well as retaliation for their advocacy for gender equity in the athletics department at UMD.”
Along with Miller, former director of women’s hockey and softball coach Jen Banford joined in the lawsuit after her contract wasn’t renewed two days after Miller was dismissed; as well as Annette Wiles, who resigned as head women’s basketball coach on June 1.
They believe UMD has violated Title IX, Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minnesota’s Equal Pay for Equal Work law, and Minnesota’s Whistleblower Act. The Title IX part of that complaint is notable, as Dan Siegel, Miller’s lawyer, won the biggest Title IX financial award in history.
You can read the complaint here:
UMD has backed off the idea that it was strictly a financial decision on Miller, with Chancellor Lendley Black telling the Duluth News Tribune that “finances were a big part of this, but there were other considerations as well.”
On Monday, the school released a statement: “We are aware that there is a press conference on Monday and are not in a position to comment about what the individuals or their lawyers will discuss there. We have fully cooperated with an internal review of the complaints raised, and dispute the broad claims of discrimination."
