Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt Athletes Part of Group Appealing House Settlement, Pausing Back Pay

Track and field athlete Kacie Breeding is one of eight female athletes that are appealing the settlement, which is likely only the first of many challenges.

Taylor Hodges

Vanderbilt athlete Kacie Breeding
Vanderbilt athlete Kacie Breeding / Vanderbilt athletics

The first of what is certainly to be many lawsuits and appeals around the House v. NCAA settlement has been announced.

And Vanderbilt gets to be in the middle of it.

Vanderbilt track and field long-distance runner Kacie Breeding has signed onto a motion to appeal the historic settlement, along with seven other female athletes. Breeding and Virginia volleyball player Kate Johnson are the only two athletes not from College of Charleston, which includes Lexi Drumms, Emma Appleman, Emmie Wannemacher, Riley Hass, Savannah Baron and Elizabeth Arnold.

The appeal will argue that the structure of damages payments violates Title IX’s gender equity statute. This appeal puts a hold on the $2.8 billion in back pay former athletes were set to receive, but revenue sharing starting July 1 will not be put on hold.

"We support a settlement of the case, just not an inaccurate one that violates federal law," objecting attorney John Clune wrote in a statement to CBS Sports. "The calculation of damages is based on an error to the tune of $1.1 billion. Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women's sports." 

All eight athletes fall in the lowest category of the House settlement’s formula used to determine how to distribute the $2.8 billion. Football and men's basketball athletes who received full scholarships at Power Five schools from June 15, 2016, to Sept. 15, 2024, are set to receive 90 percent of the more than $2 billion settlement. Women's basketball athletes will receive five percent, and all other athletes will split the remaining five percent.

Judge Claudia Wilken, who oversaw the settlement, did not directly address the Title IX issue in the settlement, did leave the door open for appeals, writing:

"To the extent that schools violate Title IX when providing benefits and compensation to student-athletes pursuant to the Injunctive Settlement Agreement, class members will have the right to file lawsuits arising out of those violations.”

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Taylor Hodges is a staff writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI covering all-things Vanderbilt. Taylor brings more than a decade’s worth of award-winning sports writing, photography and video experience covering every level of sports — from Little League baseball to professional sports and other sports like hunting and fishing. Taylor is fueled by his lifelong passion for sports that began the same day Kirk Gibson hit his legendary World Series walk-off home run, Arkansas beat Texas in Austin and No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 1 Miami in the Catholics vs. Convicts game.

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