SDSU to pay $300K to settle Title IX lawsuit by female athletes

San Diego State University has agreed to pay $300,000 — plus another $1.3 million in opposing attorney fees — to settle a class-action Title IX lawsuit brought by more than a dozen female student-athletes who alleged they received less scholarship money than their male counterparts.

The settlement, which was approved Monday by a San Diego federal judge, marks the first time ever that a university will pay for allegedly depriving female student-athletes of equal athletic financial aid.

SDSU did not admit to any wrongdoing and maintains that it treats its female student-athletes fairly and did not violate Title IX, the landmark 1972 legislation that prohibits gender discrimination at educational institutions receiving federal funding.

In addition to the money, which will be split between nearly 800 former female student-athletes, the university has agreed to implement a number of other settlement terms, including hiring an independent expert to conduct a Title IX gender equity review and using the results of that review to implement a gender equity plan. Until that plan is in place, the Aztecs athletic department also agreed to ensure that its men’s and women’s teams receive equal treatment when it comes to nutrition, travel accommodations and publicity, among other things.

“This landmark Title IX settlement is a huge victory for our clients, all of the women athletes and future women athletes at San Diego State University and the battle for gender equity nationwide,” Arthur Bryant, the lead attorney for the class-action plaintiffs, told the Union-Tribune. “When female athletes are discriminated against, and fight, they win. … The bottom line is that SDSU is going to comply with Title IX and pay for having violated it. Our clients are, and should be, incredibly proud.”

Bryant said that while this is the first case in the nation in which a university will pay for allegedly depriving female athletes of equal athletic financial aid, it won’t be the last.

“This opens a new door in the battle for gender equity; women across the country are going to start marching through it,” Bryant said. “The courageous women athletes who brought this lawsuit are true pioneers who have made an enormous difference.”

SDSU, on the other hand, said the agreement did not create any new precedent that could be used in future Title IX cases.

“The settlement expressly states that any payments are non-precedential and are not an agreement that student-athletes are entitled to damages,” the university said in a statement. “As part of the settlement, the university maintains its position that it did not violate Title IX, and the court did not make any determination as to which side is correct.”

The statement continued: “SDSU does not discriminate against its female student-athletes. Its funding level for women’s scholarships is a point of pride. The university supports and promotes its female student-athletes, and is proud of their accomplishments. Throughout the history of our program, our female student-athletes have represented a wide range of sports and are high achievers both on and off the field.”

The settlement brought to an end a lawsuit filed in 2022 by 17 women who were former and current student-athletes who alleged they’d been deprived of equal scholarship money and benefits. The plaintiffs alleged that SDSU deprived its female athletes of more than $5.36 million in financial aid between 2010 and 2020. For example, the plaintiffs alleged that in 2018, there were nearly 100 more female athletes than male athletes — 316 to 221 — and yet the male athletes received $4.6 million in total athletic financial aid while the female athletes received $4.58 million.

Six of the plaintiffs were on the Aztecs’ track and field team, while 11 others had been on the women’s rowing team, which SDSU eliminated in 2021 when it claimed it had too many female athletes and needed to make cuts to comply with Title IX.

SDSU and its attorneys had sought to dismiss the case, but U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson ruled in 2023 that it could move forward toward trial. In that ruling, Robinson wrote that SDSU would have the burden of proving there had been legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for disproportionately funding the scholarships for male athletes more than female athletes.

After several more years of litigation, the sides reached a tentative settlement last August. The agreement was presented to Robinson last month, and the judge gave final approval of the settlement Monday.

According to the terms of the settlement and the judge’s final order, the $300,000 will be split between 798 women who were student-athletes between 2018 and 2025 and did not receive all of the athletic financial aid they could have received. Each woman will receive between $172 and $860 “depending on the number of years they qualify as a Class Member.”

The attorneys for the plaintiffs — which in addition to Bryant included San Diego attorneys Jenna Rangel, Amber Eck, Gayle Blatt and David Casey, plus Iowa attorney Lori Bullock — wrote in a motion accompanying the settlement that the money is secondary to the other terms SDSU agreed to implement.

“The primary relief in this settlement is the injunctive relief that will benefit all current and future female student-athletes at SDSU,” Bryant and his colleagues wrote. “This is the relief that matters most to the Plaintiffs because obtaining this relief means that current and future female student-athletes will be treated equally to their male counterparts.”

In addition to the gender equity plan that will result from the independent review, and while that review is ongoing, SDSU agreed to take a number of specific steps in order to ensure equity between its male and female athletes. It agreed to provide “equitable nutrition to a comparable number of male and female student-athletes” and to provide equal opportunities to travel to games by airplane, or to stay at hotels in San Diego before local competitions, for both men’s and women’s teams. The university also agreed to provide professional photography services and equal publicity to both its men’s and women’s teams, and to provide personnel to record and stream home games in an equitable manner for both the men’s and women’s teams.

The university also agreed to make needed repairs to the women’s outdoor track by the end of the current school year, and to replace the women’s lacrosse team’s turf field no later than 2028.

SDSU must pay Bryant and the other attorney $1.3 million within 30 days of Monday’s approval.