FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Abbe Fletman, Flaster Greenberg 215-279-9388
Terry Fromson, Women’s Law Project 215-928-5771
The Women’s Law Project and Flaster Greenberg P.C. announce the successful resolution of a lawsuit on behalf of a Pennsylvania seventh-grade female student who was denied the opportunity to participate in the Line Mountain School District’s all-male wrestling program, in violation of her constitutional rights.
The lawsuit was filed in October 2013 in federal court and alleged that the district’s
all-male wrestling program discriminated against girls on the basis of sex in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Rights Amendment of the Pennsylvania Constitution. In January 2014, Flaster Greenberg lawyer Abbe F. Fletman and Women’s Law Project attorney Terry L. Fromson were successful in obtaining a preliminary injunction requiring the school district to allow seventh-grader Audriana Beattie to join the all-male wrestling program for the duration of the lawsuit.
The Court has now approved a consent decree entered into by the parties that will allow Ms. Beattie to remain on the previously all-male wrestling team and other young
women who wrestle competitively may join the team.
The school district has also rescinded its policy that kept girls off boys’ teams and will
not adopt any policy in the future that will unlawfully deny athletic
opportunity on the basis of sex.
“Wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports for young women; the school district’s
agreement to resolve this action both brings the school into compliance with
the law and addresses girls’ athletic interests,” said Fromson of the Women’s
Law Project. “Audriana has been a competitive wrestler for more than four
years, and we are pleased that she will be able to continue competing at Line
Mountain,” said Fletman of Flaster Greenberg. Because of this action, Audriana
has been able to wrestle with the boys’ team, where she achieved a 6 win/13
loss record this season, while also preparing for the Pennsylvania Girls State
Wrestling Championships, where she came in first in her weight class in Middle
School competition.
ABOUT THE WOMEN’S LAW PROJECT: The
Women’s Law Project is a non-profit women’s legal advocacy organization with
offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The mission of the Women’s Law Project
is to create a more just and equitable society by advancing the rights and
status of all women throughout their lives. To this end, the Women’s Law
Project engages in high-impact litigation, advocacy, and education. For more
information, visit: www.womenslawproject.org, and follow us on Twitter @WomensLawProj.
ABOUT FLASTER GREENBERG, P.C.: Flaster Greenberg,
Attorneys at Law, provides legal services to individuals, entrepreneurs,
privately held and family owned businesses and publicly traded corporations. A
business law firm of approximately 65 attorneys with offices in Pennsylvania
(PA), New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), and Delaware (DE), Flaster Greenberg
serves a broad range of clients in dozens of industries and practice areas,
including bankruptcy, business & corporate, crowdfunding, environmental,
family law, gaming, healthcare, insurance coverage counseling, labor and
employment, real estate, intellectual property law, and white collar criminal
defense. For more information, visit: http://www.flastergreenberg.com/, and follow us on Twitter @Flaster.
