Former Iowa athletic staffer files discrimination suit against university

A former Iowa senior associate athletic director has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the school, the Associated Press reports.

The former staffer, Jane Meyer, filed suit on Tuesday in a district court, naming Iowa athletic director Gary Barta in addition to the Iowa Board of Regents and the state of Iowa.

The claims of wage, sexual orientation and gender discrimination, and retaliation, stem from Meyer’s reassignment to a job her attorney said was “beneath her experience and pay grade.” The move reportedly came one week after Meyer wrote a memo to Berta discussing a “pattern of discrimination and bias against female coaches and athletes.” Her attorney called it an “attempt to silence” Meyer by “derailing her career.”

At the time of Meyer’s reassignment, the school prevented her from remaining in the athletic department, according to the report, because Iowa field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum, Meyer’s partner, intended to sue the school for discrimination. Griesbaum was fired prior to the 2014 season after Iowa investigated claims that she harassed and bullied players.

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Meyer became a project manager in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the university said her salary did not change from job to job.

The University of Iowa said it did not discriminate or retaliate against Meyer in a statement to the AP.

- Jeremy Woo

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