A federal judge has dismissed former college swimmer Riley Gaines’ Title IX lawsuit against the NCAA, concluding the college sports body is not subject to Title IX because there is no evidence it receives federal funds. That account comes from The Post Millennial, which the source article quotes extensively.
The ruling: NCAA not a Title IX “recipient”
The Post Millennial reports the court found the NCAA is not a recipient of federal funding and therefore not bound by Title IX. The outlet quotes the ruling as stating: “Here, there is no evidence that the NCAA ever received, or could have received, federal funds. Thus, Plaintiffs’ Title IX claims cannot proceed.”
According to the same report, the court looked at direct funding streams and rejected arguments that the NCAA’s affiliation with a Department of Defense-backed research consortium made it a Title IX “recipient.”
What else the court dismissed
The source article states the judge also dismissed the plaintiffs’ constitutional and bodily-privacy claims before reaching the funding question.
Appeal planned; Gaines responds
The plaintiffs have 30 days to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the source article says. Gaines reacted on X: “If the NCAA isn’t subject to Title IX, then WHO is? Of course, we will appeal. The goal from the beginning was to get this case before the Supreme Court.”
Context
The source article recounts that at the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships, Gaines tied for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle with Lia Thomas and says an NCAA official told Gaines her trophy would be mailed while Thomas received one at the event.
Key details above, including quotes from the ruling, are attributed to The Post Millennial as reported in the source material. We have not independently reviewed the court order.
