Court permits lawsuit to go on
UT lawyers had been trying to get review of discrimination case.
Former University of Texas track coach Bev Kearney’s million-dollar-plus discrimination case against UT should get moving again now that the Texas Supreme Court has denied a petition for review filed by the school’s lawyers. UT has two weeks to decide whether to ask the Supreme Court again to throw out the case. School officials could not be reached for comment. The case is likely to move back to state District Court in Austin.
Jody Mask, one of Kearney’s lawyers, told the American-Statesman he plans to restart the discovery phase of the case.
The only person who has been deposed is former UT assistant football coach Major Applewhite, now the head coach at Houston. Mask said he also plans to depose former football coach Mack Brown, former men’s athletic director DeLoss Dodds, women’s athletic director Chris Plonsky and former school President Bill Powers.
Mask said he will ask the judge to unseal Applewhite’s deposition.
Kearney resigned in January 2013, days after she was informed the school would fire her for hav-
ing an inappropriate relationship with one of her athletes in 2002. Kearney, who led Texas to six national titles, had admitted to the relationship in meetings with UT officials in the fall of 2012.
Kearney filed a lawsuit in state District Court in November 2013, calling for a minimum of $1 million in damages. Mask said the actual damages probably are $4 million, which include the total value of a contract she was about to sign before she was fired.
Her lawsuit claims UT used a double standard; the suit claims other UT employees had been involved with students but were not terminated. The case has been stuck for four years because of all the appeals.
“Quite frankly, UT came up with ... lots of ways to delay justice,” said lawyer Derek Howard, who filed the suit. “It’s unfortunate it took this long.”
The suit specifically claims Applewhite was treated differently after the school discovered he had a relationship with a female student trainer who worked with the football team. That occurred in December 2008.
The lawsuit claims that “... a high level administrator within the University’s Athletic Department has carried on a prolonged intimate relationship of approximately three years with a subordinate employee with whom he has direct involvement in setting her pay.”
If Kearney had been allowed to complete the school year back in 2013, she would’ve been the thirdhighest-paid track coach in the country, with a total package of $304,000.
Before news of the decadeold affair resurfaced, Kearney had been recommended for a substantial raise — nearly $150,000 a year, according to the suit. But the raise was put on hold, and she was placed on administrative leave in October 2012.
Kearney now works as a private coach and consultant for track athletes in San Diego, Mask said.