AUSTIN, Texas ― A former University of Texas track coach’s sex and race discrimination lawsuit has new life, and her lawyers are still pursuing long-sought testimony from former football coach Mack Brown and prominent current and former administrators as they dig into one of college sports’ highest-profile athletic departments.
Former women’s track coach Bev Kearney sued the school for at least $1 million in damages in 2013 after she was ousted over a romantic relationship with one of her sprinters a decade earlier.
School officials said Kearney “crossed the line” between a head coach and athlete. But Kearney, who is Black, argues she was more harshly punished than a White male assistant football coach who was reprimanded, but not fired, over “inappropriate” conduct with a student trainer on a bowl game trip.
Bolstered by a recent court ruling in Kearney’s favor, her lawyers say they’ll vigorously push for sworn statements from Brown, former athletic director DeLoss Dodds, former school president Bill Powers and current women’s athletic director Chris Plonsky over how school officials handled both cases.
“We will go as high as we have to go,” Kearney attorney Jody Mask said. “No one will be off limits.”
University appeals have slowed down attorneys’ efforts for nearly two years.
Court records reviewed by The Associated Press show Kearney’s lawyers pressed the school in July 2014 for depositions from Brown and the others. About three weeks later, the university asked an Austin appeals court to dismiss the case, effectively halting all evidence gathering for 21 months. The court ruled May 3 that her case could go forward, but Texas threw up another roadblock last Wednesday when it asked the appeals court to reconsider.
