Deborah Powell was the women’s basketball coach at Asbury University. She brought numerous complaints over the course of a few years to the University’s athletic director stating that the men’s team was receiving preferential treatment. The University eventually placed Powell on administrative leave, alleging that she had an inappropriate relationship with a female assistant coach.
Mary Banker was an assistant track coach at the University of Louisville. She made a series of complaints about the conduct of male track coaches, which she believed to be deprecating to women. When the University failed to renew her contract, she filed suit for retaliatory discharge, gender discrimination, and hostile work environment. The Jefferson County Circuit Court found for the University on the latter two counts but awarded Banker damages for retaliatory discharge.
Weickgenannt was a faculty member at Northern Kentucky University. Despite receiving high marks in her employment evaluations, the University denied her tenure. She was the only female accounting professor considered for tenure by the University in fifteen years. Weickgenannt sued the University, alleging gender discrimination in violation of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act.
The ACLU filed a petition representing Kentucky abortion providers challenging the constitutionality of a state law banning physicians from providing abortions through dilation and evacuation (“D and E”) method. The Court of Appeals of the Sixth Circuit held that the ban unconstitutionally burdened the right to abortion. After the decision, Kentucky’s Attorney General moved to intervene, which the Sixth Circuit refused. The Supreme Court decided that the Attorney General should have been allowed to intervene as a non-party.
Donna Solly was employed as a limited-status teacher at Caldwell Area Technology Center. The employer did not renew her employment contract, stating she had an affair with a male colleague. Solly filed suit in the Franklin County Circuit Court, alleging sex discrimination. The Circuit Court found in favor of the employer, but the Court of Appeals of Kentucky reversed and remanded, holding that she had established a prima facie case of sex discrimination.
Kentucky law requires abortions to be performed at healthcare facilities licensed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services; however, private physicians’ practices are exempt from this licensing requirement (see: KY Rev Stat § 216B.0431).
Three employees of the Kenton County Clerk’s office brought claims of sexual harassment in violation of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act against the Chief Deputy. The Chief Deputy had made several inappropriate comments to each employee over the course of their employment.
The new husband of a divorced mother of three children filed a petition seeking to adopt the remaining minor child from her prior marriage without the consent of the former spouse/biological parent, effectively terminating her parental rights. After the divorce, the other biological parent underwent gender affirmation surgery and began living her life as a woman. The children discovered this when they visited her in Florida and told her afterward that they no longer wanted to see her.
A professor held an eleven-month tenure-track teaching contract with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. One of her colleagues recommended that she include an opinion poll in her course materials, but she declined and continued to decline when her colleague pressed. After she complained about what she considered to be harassment to her supervisors, she learned that her teaching contract would not be renewed. She filed claims of sex and disability discrimination in the Fayette County Circuit Court, but the court dismissed her claims.
Murray was a part-time and later full-time faculty member of Eastern Kentucky University. When she began the full-time position, one of the terms of her contract was that she would obtain her doctorate degree within five years. During that period, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she received an extension on the doctoral requirement. The University denied her second request for an extension, and she was subsequently terminated from her position for failing to obtain the required doctorate degree.
