Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Honoree Ashley Badis Leads Hawaii Title IX Settlement
November 3, 2023
A landmark US Title IX class-action lawsuit over a lack of equal facilities for women athletes at Hawaii’s largest public school has reached a settlement and preliminary approval from a judge. The gender equity lawsuit had initially been filed by student-athlete Ashley Badis and her former teammates in 2018. This past July Badis was honored with a Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award at the 2023 Sports Humanitarian Awards at The ESPYS for her fight for gender equality and equity in sports in Hawaii.
The lawsuit had been brought forth by girls and parents at James Campbell High School, filed with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Hawaii. It alleged that the school was systematically discriminating against them based on their gender which is a violation of the landmark Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 legislation in the US. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity) in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Although the law isn’t specific to sports, it has contributed significantly to efforts to help ensure equal access for women and girls in sports with its non-discrimination protections.
Badis (now a student at the University of Hawaii), competed in swimming and water polo at the school and found significant disparities in how female versus male athletes were treated. In the effort to improve the circumstances for all girls in the school, she became the lead plaintiff on the suit which sought "system-wide change and Title IX compliance to end gender discrimination in high school sports." In July 2022 the case progressed when a federal judge ruled that it could become a class action.
Allegations included that female student-athletes were forced to change in teachers’ closets, in the nearest Burger King bathroom and even on the practice field, while male student-athletes had their own locker room and changing facilities. To go to the bathroom, the girls had to run back to the campus gym (two football fields in length away), use “decrepit” portable toilets or relieve themselves in the bushes, which made the girls feel “unvalued” and “second-class compared to the boys”.
Additionally, the suit alleged that boys’ sports programs were better equipped than girls’ sports such as water polo – which they were made to practice in the ocean, at times under dangerous conditions – and soccer, which lacked adequate sporting gear and facilities. The coaches for girls’ teams were also reportedly paid less than boys’ team coaches. “In a state with a high proportion of students of color and an extremely high cost of living, the opportunities afforded to female athletes are all the more important and impactful,” Wookie Kim, legal director of the ACLU said in a statement.
As reported this week, attorneys say that the settlement will "ensure athletic gender equity" at Hawaii's biggest high school. The Hawai’i Department of Education (DOE) and Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) will hire an independent evaluator who will ensure girls at the school receive equivalent sport opportunities such as facilities and transportation. The settlement also includes a seven-year compliance plan for monitoring and evaluating sports gender equity at the school which will involve publicly available reports. In addition, the state has allocated $6 million to the DOE for James Campbell High School’s athletic facilities, including for a girl’s locker room.
“I’m happy that future students won’t have to go through what my teammates and I did,” Badis shared. “It’s so so important to speak up for yourself and for others, especially when you can be the person to speak up for someone else when they won’t be able to do it for themselves. You can’t invoke any change unless you start with the first step and speak up.”
For several years, The Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award has honored high school and college students who use sports to improve their communities. Beyond Sport's sister company, thinkBeyond, has designed and delivered the leadership curriculum for the past four years. Now 22, Badis is continuing her work to increase gender equity in school sports. She assisted the Aspen Institute and Society Program with its School Sports Equity Toolkit in the summer. The toolkit includes strategies for advocacy, action and change.
Source: Seattle Times, Hawaii News Now, NY Post and University of Hawaii News