Centenary College of Louisiana has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit accusing the school of firing a female coach because she had become a mother.
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Download NowThe EEOC had alleged that the Shreveport college had demanded the resignation of its women's intercollegiate basketball head coach and then fired her because she had child.
In September 2005, the coach gave birth to a child while unwed, and returned full time to her coaching duties 10 days later. The EEOC alleged that after the conclusion of the team's basketball season in March 2006, the athletic director at the time told the coach that she should not continue coaching because she was now a mother.
A month before her termination, the EEOC alleged, the athletic director also reportedly told an assistant athletic director that his major concern with the coach was her "life choice" in deciding to have a baby and that he was concerned she would not be able to be completely committed to her coaching duties as a result.
Although the college denied wrongdoing, it agreed to pay Wamsley $200,000 in damages. The college also agreed to post a written policy concerning sex discrimination, and to have much of its staff undergo training on sex discrimination.