Attorneys across the nation are watching for the outcome of a Title IX claim against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) filed by cisgender college swimmer and activist Riley Gaines over transgender athlete participation. The case is Riley Gaines et al. v. NCAA et al., Case Number 1:24-cv-01109, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
In September, a Georgia federal judge dismissed most of Gaines’s claims against the NCAA and several public universities. However, the judge permitted a Title IX claim to proceed based on the NCAA’s receipt of U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) funding.
Gaines and other cisgender athletes alleged in their suit that the NCAA’s policy of defining women according to their testosterone levels hurt women athletes. More specifically, the athletes claimed that men were competing in women’s sports, eliminating safe spaces for women in locker rooms, and depriving them of equal opportunities.
Since the NCAA received at least $85 million in funding from the DOD through a concussion research partnership, the NCAA is subject to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Under Title IX, no education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance can exclude, deny benefits to, or discriminate against anyone based on sex.
In response, the NCAA argued that Title IX was inapplicable to it as a private institution and that its collaborative program with its athletes and the DOD did not constitute federal funding. However, U.S. District Court Judge Tiffany R. Johnson disagreed, finding that “at least a plausible allegation that the DOD either directly or indirectly funded NCAA research and that the NCAA either directly or indirectly plays a role in deciding how those funds are used.” As a result, the court allowed the Title IX claim to go forward.
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