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WASHINGTON--The Supreme Court will decide whether a law designed to promote gender equality in educational programs offers protection to whistleblowers as well as victims of sexual discrimination.
The federal government believes that Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 does protect whistleblowers, Irving Gornstein, assistant to the U.S. solicitor general, told the high court as the justices heard oral arguments in Roderick Jackson vs. Birmingham Board of Education on Tuesday. The law is best known for promoting equitable funding for sports for both sexes.
The case involves whether Mr. Jackson can pursue a lawsuit against the Birmingham, Ala., school board, because he lost his job as a girls high school basketball coach after he repeatedly complained that the facilities provided for the girls team were not as good as those provided for the boys team. Mr. Jackson, who kept his job as a physical education teacher, said that he lost his coaching job in retaliation for his complaints. The board of education responded that Title IX, unlike some other anti-discrimination laws, does not allow private lawsuits for retaliation claims.
Both a district court and a three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the school board's position. In arguments before the Supreme Court, Alabama Solicitor General Kevin Newsom argued that whistleblowers are not "left out in the cold," and that they can seek administrative remedies under Title IX. "There just aren't many of these retaliation claims out there," he said.