Girls’ tackle football lawsuit reinstated
Jan 17, 2023, 12:32 PM
Girls participate in tackle football in West Jordan on June 6, 2015. (Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A group of girls who sued three Utah School districts for not offering a girls’ football league are having their case reinstated.
KSL NewsRadio’s Amy Donaldson has been following this case for years. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2017.
“The lawsuit was meant to force specifically three school districts, but I think the wider goal was to have the Utah High School Activities Association offer a girl’s football league — a girl’s tackle football league — for high school girls. That was kind of the ultimate goal of the lawsuit,” Donaldson said.
One of the original plaintiffs was Sam Gordon, who received recognition from the NFL for her efforts to bring tackle football to Utah girls.
“She graduated and knew even if she won, even if they prevailed, she would never get to take advantage of the league that she was fighting to create,” Donaldson said.
A lower court dismissed the case as many of the girls who filed the lawsuit, like Gordon, graduated. But the appeals court said the decision was an error and the case should be reclassified.
The appeals court also said the lower courts should have allowed the lawsuit to be a class action lawsuit.
