Former TSU Women's Hoops Coach Sues University
Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court
September 29, 2008.

Surina Dixon, former head women's basketball coach at Texas Southern University in Houston, has filed a federal lawsuit against the school alleging gender discrimination and retaliation. Dixon, who was hired in March by interim athletics director Johnnie Cole and TSU President John Rudley, was fired in June by athletics director Charles McClelland who took over the program in April.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by Houston attorney Todd Slobin on behalf of Dixon, states "Coach Dixon, the former Head Basketball Coach for the Women's Basketball Program at Texas Southern University, brings this action against TSU for gender discrimination and retaliating against her after she complained about gender discrimination and advocating for gender equity in TSU's Athletic Department. Coach Dixon brings this case against TSU under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 which mandates, according to the lawsuit, equitable pay for females holding similar positions as their male counterparts."

According to the lawsuit Dixon agreed to a four-year contract offered to her by Cole and Dr. Rudley. After working at TSU for three months, McClelland changed the school's offer to a one year contract. After finding out the terms of the TSU offer had been changed by McClelland, Dixon complained and told McClelland the contract was discriminatory. Dixon then hired an attorney who notified the school in writing that the one-year contract was discriminatory. In response, according to the lawsuit, TSU fired Dixon.

"I believe because I questioned the terms of the contract, the years, the salary, which were a huge gender difference and because I was questioning those things, I think that I was terminated based on sex discrimination and retaliation," Dixon said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports.

Dixon's lawsuit points out she was offered a one year contract at $75,000, while the new men's basketball coach at TSU, Tony Harvey, received a five-year contract at $150,000 per year.

According to the lawsuit McClelland told Dixon she was getting a one-year contract because she had to prove herself, even though she had previous head coaching experience and Harvey had none.

The lawsuit also states McClelland wanted to replace Dixon with Prairie View A and M head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, who McClelland had hired at Prairie View when he was athletics director there. The school eventually hired Yolanda Wells-Broughton who was an assistant at LSU.

The federal lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Houston, does not ask for a specific dollar amount but does "seek equitable relief, back pay and front pay, compensatory damages, attorney's fees, expert witness fees, taxable court costs, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest."

"I just want to see Texas Southern be fair with women when negotiating their contracts," Dixon said.

McClelland told FOX 26 Sports he can't comment on the specifics of the lawsuit because he has not seen it.

"I have not received anything at this point, but I am confident that Texas Southern University has followed all local, state, and federal laws, and NCAA rules and regulations," McClelland said.

The lawsuit asks for a trial by jury.

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Successes

• $730K settlement awarded in gender discrimination case

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• $875,000 Settlement in Whistleblower suit against the City of Houston

  The city council agreed to pay $875,000 to a veterinarian who successfully sued the City of Houston; after he was unfairly fired from his job at the city's animal pound for complaining of animal abuse at the kennel. The jury found him retaliated against by his superiors who fired him with prejudice.

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  The jury found a female HPD cadet was discriminated against because of her gender when she was fired from the cadet class. HPD said she violated the Cadet Code of Conduct by carrying a gun in her personal car; however there were previous cases where male cadets were only reprimanded and not terminated.

• Sexual Harassment Settlement in excess of $300,000

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  The jury found the Lieutenant was demoted from a Detective to Recruiting because he is black. He was terminated six months after complaining to authorities. The jury agreed the termination was a form of retaliation and awarded him lost wages past and future.

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  A white male employee sued the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority ("Metro") alleging race discrimination in violation of Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code. The employee was denied a promotion to the position of Superintendent despite being the most qualified person for the position. The jury found that the interview panel was tainted by a person on the panel, the second term president of the local chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials ("COMTO"), and an organization which promotes the creation of opportunities for minorities.

• Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Settlement in excess of $150,000

  Our firm represented a male employee who was sexually harassed by another male employee at a construction company. We were able to open dialogue with the construction company and bring about a quick resolution for our client.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in excess of $149,000

  Our firm represented 16 current and former waitresses at two popular bars that required their waitresses to work off-the-clock and to share a portion of their tips with members of management. The bar also failed to pay its waitresses overtime for hours they worked in excess of 40 in a work week. Our firm was able to demonstrate that the bar's actions were in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which resulted in settlement.

• Arbitration award in excess of $120,000 in a Breach of Employment Contract suit.

  An employee of a Houston based company was terminated in breach of his employment contract. The company alleged that the employee had performance issues which allowed the company to terminate the employee under its "for cause" provision. Our firm was able to show that the alleged performance issues were false and that the company breached the employment agreement by terminating the employee prior to the expiration of the term of the agreement.

• $115,000 Jury Verdict in a Racial Discrimination suit against the INS

  The jury found the INS discriminated against a black inspector. The inspector filed a complaint with authorities in the department for being passed over for promotion. The jury determined that passengers were solicited and asked to prepare written complaints against the employee to be used against him as a basis for termination. . The jury found the INS acted with prejudice toward the inspector.

• $106,000 Jury Verdict in Wrongful Termination suit against the City of Houston

  The jury found the city acted with malice in firing a dog-catcher for reporting instances of animal cruelty and racial discrimination of Hispanic workers to a supervisor. Jurors concluded the city violated the state whistle-blower law, which prevents government agencies from retaliating against employees simply for reporting problems.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $100,000

  We filed suit on behalf of six servers of a fine dining establishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act, arguing that the restaurant's requirement that its servers share a percentage of their tips with the restaurant's manager was in violation of federal law. The parties were able to reach resolution of the matter at mediation.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $100,000

  The firm filed a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act on behalf of five current and former servers of a fine dining establishment, arguing that the restaurant violated federal law by failing to pay its servers overtime, requiring them to work off-the-clock, and requiring that its servers share a portion of their tips with the restaurant's manager on duty. After notice of the lawsuit was mailed to other current and former servers, an additional seven servers joined the lawsuit. The parties settled the case at mediation.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $95,000

  An employee of a communications company was terminated when he complained to management that he was not receiving overtime pay for hours he worked in excess of 40 in a work week. The company alleged that the employee was not entitled to overtime because he was exempt under the computer professional exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and that the employee was terminated because he refused to sign a non-competition agreement. Our firm was able to demonstrate that the employee did not meet the duties of an exempt computer professional, which resulted in settlement of the matter.

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