California State University, Fresno January 23, 2008http://collegian.csufresno.edu

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• Gallery: Professional Bull

Riders at the Save Mart Center

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May 2002-Milutinovich was removed from her position as associ-ate athletic director and reassigned.

April 2004-Milutinovich filed a lawsuit against Fresno State.

December 2004-Vivas was fired. She said it was because of her sexual orientation and her attempts to advocate gender equity in sports.-Vivas filed a lawsuit against the university.

February 2005-Johnson-Klein was first put on leave.

March 2005-Johnson-Klein rejected Fresno State’s initial resolu-tion attempts. She was fired the next day.

August 2005-Johnson-Klein filed a law-suit against Fresno State for wrongful termination, gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

July 2007-Vivas awarded $5.85 mil-lion in her lawsuit against the university.

Megan Bakker / The Collegian

In addition to lingering legal battles over for mer wom-en’s basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein’s $19.1 million dollar settlement, new allega-tions of discrimination have been leveled at the Fresno State athletics department by an administrative assistant, Iris Levesque, and softball coach Margie Wright.

Levesque, a former admin-istrative assistant from the men’s basketball team, is suing the university for age discrimination and claims the school is not hiring her back because she has made several complaints about NCAA viola-tions and gender discrimina-tion when she was an employ-ee.

Jessica Alber t , one of Levesque’s attorneys, said that Levesque’s case was unique, because it shows a “culture of gender-based dis-crimination” that “heavily affected the support staff” in addition to affecting coaches like Johnson-Klein and Lindy Vivas, and associate athletic director Diane Milutinovich.

According to the formal complaint filed with the law office of Seigel and Yee – the

In an effort to reduce the $19.1 million awarded to for-mer women’s basketball coach Stacy-Johnson Klein, Fresno State was granted a hearing last Friday for three separate appeals to the case.

However, it is going to be a while before a decision is announced. The judge at the hearing, Donald S. Black, chose to go into submission. This gives him time to review the case further. He must announce a decision by Feb. 9, due to time limits placed on the court.

The first two appeals asked for a new trial, and to move the trial outside of Fresno County. Fresno State attor-neys said that the atmosphere in Fresno was highly pressur-ized and “polluted” by media coverage, and the other two lawsuits from former women’s volleyball coach Lindy Vivas and former associate athletic director Diane Milutinovich. Vivas’ case is also still being

Gender equityfallout continues

October 2007-Milutinovich settled her lawsuit with the university out-of-court for $3.5 million.-Vivas’ award was cut to $4.52 million in an appeal.

December 2007-Johnson-Klein’s trial ended with a $19.1 million verdict in her favor. Fresno State decides to appeal the award.-Iris Levesque, a former ath-letic department employee filed a lawsuit claiming gen-der discrimination.

January 2008-The hearing for the appeal of Johnson-Klein’s case is held but no decision is reached.-Women’s softball coach Margie Wright considers fil-ing a lawsuit.

See JOHNSON-KLEIN, Page 2

Johnson-Kleinappeal beginsBy Megan Bakker and Joanne Lui

The Collegian

New lawsuitsforthcoming

By Megan Bakker The Collegian

See ALLEGATIONS, Page 2

Above: Three-time Professional Bull Riders

(PBR) world cham-pion Adriano Moraes rides Panther in the

Table Mountain Casino Invitational, part of the Built Ford Tough Series

presented by Wrangler, at the Save Mart Center on Friday, Jan. 18. Moraes

placed second overall.

Right: Bullfighter Shorty Gorham (center) protects rider Brendon Clark (left) after he is thrown off his

bull, Water Moccasin.

Travis Briscoe won first place in the winner-take-

all format event. “It’s pretty awesome to win

$105,000 in one night,” Briscoe said in a PBR

press release. “I’m happy I could come back and

win [the event in] Fresno this year.”

Photos Juan Villa / The Collegian

Every second counts