After 10 long years, the University of California and former UC Davis female student wrestlers Arezou Mansourian, Christine Ng, and Lauren Mancuso announced that they have reached an agreement to settle the issues remaining after the findings made by a federal judge last August in the liability phase of trial in the case. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) Legal Advocacy Fund supported the plaintiffs in this case and commends the $1.35 million settlement in their favor. Read more about it HERE.

The U.S. District Court for Eastern California found that the university violated Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 by not sufficiently expanding intercollegiate athletic opportunities for female students at UC Davis between 1998 and 2005, the years that the plaintiffs were in attendance. The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim against four university employees (all now retired), holding that the employees did not violate the Equal Protection Clause or were entitled to qualified immunity in their handling of the plaintiffs’ requests relating to women’s wrestling.

The damages phase of the trial on the Title IX claim was scheduled to start on March 5, 2012. The parties chose instead to resolve all remaining issues, including any possible appeals, with payment by the university of $1.35 million to the plaintiffs’ counsel for attorneys’ fees and costs incurred during the lengthy case.