SUNY Athletics Officials Immune From Coach’s Sex Bias Claims (1)

A former women’s basketball coach at SUNY Binghamton can’t pursue sex discrimination claims under the U.S. Constitution against the head coach or athletics director, the Second Circuit ruled Aug. 12.

Head Coach Nicole Scholl and Interim Athletics Director James Norris are immune from those claims because Elizabeth Naumovski brought them under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by way of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the court said. Section 1983 authorizes suits against public officials individually when their conduct violates clearly established law, it said.

A lower court failed to address the officials’ immunity because it mistakenly analyzed Naumovski’s ...