in its award of summary judgment and injunctive relief to plaintiffs on their Title IX unequal participation claim.
The panel held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by: (1) striking the proposed testimony of Sweetwater’s two experts because the record suggested that the testimony was based on, at best, an unreliable methodology; (2) excluding Sweetwater’s 38 untimely disclosed witnesses from testifying at trial because Sweetwater’s failure to comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26’s disclosure requirement was neither substantially justified nor harmless; and (3) declining to consider contemporaneous evidence at trial.
The panel held that the student plaintiffs had Article III standing to bring their Title IX retaliation claim arising from the firing of the softball coach. The panel further determined that the district court did not clearly err when it found that: (1) plaintiffs established a prima facie case of Title IX retaliation; and (2) Sweetwater’s purported non-retaliatory reasons for firing the coach were pretextual excuses for unlawful retaliation. The panel held, therefore, that the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting permanent injunctive relief to plaintiffs on their Title IX retaliation claim.
COUNSEL
Paul V. Carelli, IV (argued), Daniel R. Shinoff, and Patrice M. Coady, Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz, APC, San Diego, California, for Defendants-Appellants.
