Neal v. Board of Trustees of California State Universities case brief

Neal v. Board of Trustees of California State Universities case brief summary
198 F.3d 763 (1999)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant universities appealed order from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California granting a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs in suit alleging defendant universities had violated Title IX and U.S. Const. amend. XIV.

CASE FACTS
Plaintiffs alleged defendant universities' decision to reduce the number of spots on its men's wrestling team, violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, U.S. Const. amend. XIV.

DISCUSSION

• The instant case required the court to consider whether Title IX prevented a university in which male students occupy a disproportionately high percentage of athletic roster spots from making gender-conscious decisions to reduce the proportion of roster spots assigned to men. 
• The inquiry properly raised on appeal was not whether the defendant universities' Office of Civil Rights interpretation of Title IX was unconstitutional, but whether it raised serious constitutional questions. 
• The court answered that question in the negative. 
• Title IX does not bar universities from taking steps to ensure that women were approximately as well represented in sports programs as they are in student bodies.
•  The court reversed, and vacated the preliminary injunction granted by the district court.

CONCLUSION
Preliminary injunction reversed and vacated. Title IX does not bar universities from taking remedial action to ensure that women are approximately as well represented in sports programs as they are in student bodies.

Suggested Study Aid For Sports Law