The former women’s lacrosse coach at Quinnipiac (Con.) University, Tanya Kotowicz, is suing the university for discrimination. Kotowicz alleged that she was harassed, underpaid and fired for calling out disparities between Quinnipiac’s treatment of male and female athletes — specifically when it came to access to athletic trainers.
According to Law360, it was after complaining of bias against the women’s teams that the seven-year coach was fired. She had just led the Bobcats to their winningest season since 2011.
The Quinnipiac Chronicle reported when Kotowicz was fired back in January 2024 — seven weeks before the season was set to start. At the time, Quinnipiac had released a short statement saying only, “Quinnipiac Athletics announces that Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Tanya Kotowicz is leaving the program. Quinnipiac thanks Kotowicz for her efforts and wishes her well in her future endeavors. Kotowicz has led the Bobcats since 2017. Associate Head Coach Jordan Christopher will assume head coaching responsibilities.”
Quinnipiac University claimed Kotowicz was terminated for playing an injured student-athlete during an offseason scrimmage, which was followed by a two-month internal investigation. Kotowicz and her attorney described this explanation as “false and pretextual.”
According to the Quinnipiac Chronicle, Kotowicz was “promised” to be assigned a dedicated athletic trainer for the women’s lacrosse team, but the university never came through on those assurances. Instead, “during the fall 2023 offseason, the team worked with four different athletic trainers on a rotating — but often random — basis.”
Kotowicz and student-athletes reported often practicing without an athletic trainer present and at least one instance of having to use personal vehicles to seek medical attention for injured athletes. Email correspondence showed Kotowicz sent several messages to the sports medicine department, voicing her concerns.
According to CT Insider, Kotowicz is seeking lost wages and benefits as well as damages for emotional distress.
