A female high school athletic director in South Carolina has filed a lawsuit alleging sex discrimination played a role in her termination.
Lauren West, the former athletic director at Northwestern High School, is suing the Rock Hill School District, arguing in her case that she received unequal and biased treatment compared to male athletic directors at other school in the district.
West says she was suspended and then fired because she complained about the unfair treatment.
“She suffered differing terms and conditions of employment between how she was treated, and how the male athletic directors were treated. She was placed on administrative leave, and then wrongfully terminated,” West’s lawyer, Shannon Polvi, said in a statement to The Herald.
West is seeking damages from the school district, including loss of salary, loss of benefits, reduced retirement and for the “damages for reputational harm and emotional distress.”
Rock Hill denies West’s allegations, saying West was fire after a performance review and after she violated district policy.
According to The Herald, the lawsuit claims there were several instances of “disparate treatment,” including claims she was paid less than male peers for years. She also was “left out of the hiring process” during the recruitment of a head football coach in summer 2019. The school district denies that this happened, court documents show.
West claims she faced questions such as “What does a female know about football?” from a Northwestern administrator.
