Advertisement
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Madison, also asked for compensation for pain, suffering, mental and emotional distress and expenses after the girl, Ivyanne Elborough, broke her clavicle during a high school football practice.
By telling her to practice without safety equipment, football coach Ron Grovesteen caused the girl to be injured, "which made her unable to participate in football, crushed her dreams of becoming the first professional female football player, caused her to miss school, go through surgery and other medical procedures," the complaint said.
Evansville School District Administrator Heidi Carvin said the district and its insurance carrier investigated the claims when they were first made last year. "We don't believe that they're true," Carvin said, adding, "We believe the district will prevail."
Carvin declined further comment because the litigation is pending. A message left for Grovesteen was not returned Wednesday night.
No specific amount of money is sought. "We want a jury to decide what would be a fair amount," said Madison lawyer Andrea Farrell.
The teenager, who is now entering her sophomore year, is still receiving medical treatment for the injury she received after school staff made it difficult for her to access her safety gear before practice, according to the complaint filed by the girl and her mother, Deborah St. Aubin-Elborough.
The Evansville School District and Grovesteen are named in the suit.
According to the complaint:
• Grovesteen disregarded the girl's safety by instructing and allowing her to participate in blocking drills Aug. 30 without any safety gear during football practice where every other player was male and wearing safety gear. That led to her injuries.
• Grovesteen wouldn't provide Ivyanne with a key to the girls locker room before practices, leaving her to "fend for herself" or find a janitor to access the room — the reason she found herself on the football practice field without safety gear — and she never received a team T-shirt while all of the male players did.
• Grovesteen "maliciously intended for (the girl) to suffer injury in an effort to deter her and other female high school students from participating on the football team. ... He wanted to show that girls were not tough enough to play football."
The complaint charges a pattern of discrimination against the girl by coaches: The coaches would serve snacks only in the boys locker room, preventing Ivyanne from participating, and post schedules only in the boys locker room so she could not see them.
Grovesteen made the girl cut her hair very short twice, "claiming this was for safety reasons, even though boys on the team were allowed to keep longer hairstyles," the complaint said.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has said girls are allowed to compete on any school sports team in which there is not a comparable athletic opportunity for them within a school district.
