U. of Minnesota Golf Coach Says She Was Fired for Being a Lesbian
Kathryn Brenny, a former golf coach at the University of Minnesota, is filing suit against the school, claiming they fired her because she's gay, the Star Tribune reports:
The 16-page complaint, which Brenny's attorney said would be filed in court on Wednesday, alleges that the university and golf director John Harris violated her rights as a member of a protected class under the state Human Rights Act.
The complaint said Harris "did not want to hire a homosexual to coach the women's golf team."
University general counsel Mark Rotenberg has said the university does not agree with Brenny's claims and didn't discriminate against her on the basis of sexual orientation. Rotenberg could not be reached on Tuesday.
According to Brenny's lawsuit, "On Sept. 1, Harris told Brenny she wouldn't travel with the team and gave her tasks such as typing schedules. On Oct. 12, Brenny met with Athletic Director Joel Maturi and he told her to 'quit or comply' with what Harris wanted, the complaint said. Brenny agreed to a severance package, then rejected it after she heard that an athletic department employee told at least one player that "Harris discovered she was a homosexual and did not want her on the road with the team."
Said Brenny to Golf Week: “Almost as soon as I arrived in Minnesota, I was not permitted to carry out the duties of the position, and I was denied the opportunity to coach the team. This included my not being permitted to travel with the team to the four tournaments scheduled for the fall. The atmosphere that was created became more and more hostile, to the point where it made it intolerable for me to even perform the limited administrative duties that had been reassigned to me. While I was never given an explanation for why I was treated this way, I later learned that I was discriminated against because of my gender and sexual preference.”
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