- The North Carolina Court of Appeals has rejected a lawsuit from former Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball players who claimed they were forced off the team in 2021 because of racism and retaliation.
- The unanimous decision affirmed a trial judge's ruling favoring the school.
- Appellate judges agreed that the students' scholarships lasted a single year, and that most plaintiffs had entered the transfer portal before the school could have decided whether to renew their scholarships for 2021-22.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has rejected a lawsuit from former Lenoir-Rhyne women’s basketball players who claimed they were forced off the team in 2021 because of racism and retaliation. The decision Tuesday upheld a trial judge’s ruling favoring the school.
Eight former players and a student manager had filed suit against Lenoir-Rhyne.
“During the height of COVID-19 in the 2020-2021 basketball season, there were racial tensions within the basketball team that caused the coaches and some administrative personnel to hold a meeting with the team,” Judge Fred Gore wrote for a unanimous three-judge appellate panel. “The team agreed to limit their team communication to only basketball-related and team goal-oriented discussions.”
Player Laney Fox organized an internal meeting and a later symposium open to the entire university “to further discuss racial prejudice.” Fox “alleges the coaches sought to ‘retaliate’ against her and other African American teammates after these events,” Gore wrote.
“Plaintiffs attested in their affidavits that they were forced off the basketball team at the end of the 2020-2021 basketball season. Plaintiff Fox had a meeting with the coaches in which the coaches told her she did not fit into the culture of the team and that she would not be welcomed back onto the team for the 2021-2022 basketball season. The coaches offered to still give plaintiff Fox her full scholarship for the 2021-2022 basketball season. Plaintiff Fox ultimately entered the transfer portal to leave Lenoir-Rhyne,” Gore explained.
Five other players argued they were forced off the team, though evidence showed they “planned to and did enter the transfer portal” for the 2021-22 season.
The manager said in an affidavit that she was “involuntarily separated” from the team. Yet she admitted sending a coach a text saying, “If it isn’t already obvious, I will not be working with you guys this semester. Hope you guys have a great season.”
Fox’s social media posts about her departure from the team prompted a response from Lenoir-Rhyne President Frederick Whitt:
“Yesterday, a former student-athlete posted a number of false claims on social media, including that she was dismissed from the women’s basketball team for speaking out against racism and advocating for social justice. Lenoir-Rhyne flatly disagrees with this student’s version of events. Her dismissal from the basketball team was a legitimate coaching decision, and suggestions to the contrary are simply false.”
The former players and manager sued for “breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference with contractual rights, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, and libel.”
A trial judge ruled in favor of Lenoir-Rhyne on all counts.
The Appeals Court rejected players’ arguments that the school broke promises of four-year scholarships. “[T]here is no genuine issue of material fact that the scholarship was limited to one year and subject to renewal with new contracts each academic year,” Gore wrote.
“This evidence suggests plaintiffs-athletes’ contracts were completed for the 2020-2021 academic year and that each one chose to transfer from Lenoir-Rhyne,” he added. “These decisions were made during the time frame that Lenoir-Rhyne could determine whether to renew or cancel the [grant in aid scholarship]. Further the Student-Athlete handbook provided an appeals process for student-athletes who did not receive a renewal of their GIAs.”
“There is no indication in the record that plaintiffs appealed their GIAs. This is likely because the evidence in the record demonstrates plaintiffs entered the transfer portal to transfer to a different institution prior to any non-renewal of their GIAs. Accordingly, plaintiffs-athletes fail to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact for the breach of contract claim against defendants,” Gore wrote.
Chief Judge Chris Dillon and Judge Donna Stroud joined Gore’s opinion.