A federal judge Thursday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Arkansas Tech University in Russellville of discrimination based on a former coach's gender and sexual orientation.
The lawsuit filed in 2013 by former women's softball coach Gidget Pambianchi, who said she is a lesbian, said she was fired in April 2012 after she moved to fire a male assistant coach for having a relationship with a player. That assistant accused her in March 2012 of sexual harassment, she contended.
Judge Kristine Baker, ruling in U.S. District Court in Little Rock, dismissed the case "with prejudice," meaning Pambianchi cannot refile it.
Baker noted in Thursday's decision that she had previously dismissed Pambianchi's claims to the extent that they were based on allegations that Pambianchi was discriminated against solely because of her sexual orientation.
Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, the judge wrote, "does not prohibit employment discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation. ... The courts are not free to expand Title VII to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."
Baker noted, however, that she allowed Pambianchi to proceed on her claim of sex or gender discrimination.
According to Baker's 29-page decision, Pambianchi argued that Arkansas Tech "treated similarly situated male employees more favorably than she was treated in [the university's] application of its sexual harassment policy and in assessing penalties for coaches based on player misconduct and NCAA violations."
"Further, Ms. Pambianchi alleges pay disparity, a claim she never asserted in her pleadings," Baker added.
Among Pambianchi's arguments was one "that she was treated less favorably than similarly situated male coaches involved in infractions that are similar to those listed" by the university's former president, Robert Brown, in not reinstating her, the judge wrote.
"Specifically, she contends that male coaches of the football and basketball teams had players who were arrested for driving while intoxicated and failed drug tests and that other coaches committed NCAA secondary violations, but that none of these coaches ... were reprimanded," the judge added. "Further, Ms. Pambianchi claims that two male coaches have been drunk in public in Russellville."
The university countered that Pambianchi could not appropriately compare her actions with those of these coaches "because they were not also accused of sexual harassment," the judge wrote. "This Court agrees."
It was not immediately known whether Pambianchi plans to appeal.
Three attorneys for Pambianchi did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment, and there is no phone listing for Pambianchi in Russellville directory assistance.
State Desk on 03/27/2015