Shannon Miller, Jen Banford and Annette Wiles claim the university discriminated against them because of their sexual orientation.
Shannon Miller spoke to Curve Magazine last spring about being “Iced Out” from Minnesota-Duluth University despite being one of the most successful women’s ice hockey coaches in the country. She felt the university had blatantly discriminated against her, both as a woman and as lesbian.
Now she’s taking the matter to court, along with two other former UMD female coaches—Jen Banford and Annette Wiles. Banford was the director of the women’s ice hockey operations and head coach of the women’s softball team. Her contract for both positions was not renewed following the 2014-2015 season. Wiles left her position as the women’s head basketball coach of her own accord in June of this year, claiming a hostile work environment and discrimination.
According to a recent press release, all three women allege that UMD and its administrators exhibited a pattern of discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, national origin (Miller is from Canada), and age, as well as retaliation for Miller, Banford’s, and Wiles’ repeated attempts for gender equality in the UMD athletics department. The lawsuit states that UMD violated Title IX, Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minnesota’s Equal Pay for Equal Work law, and Minnesota’s Whistleblower Act.
Among many other things, listed in the legal complaint are allegations that Miller received hate mail in her work mailbox calling her a “dyke” and other derogatory names, but when she reported the letters to the human resources director, no action was taken. Banford also received hate mail while at UMD and reported being left out of certain athletic department events. Wiles alleged that she began being mistreated after she spoke at a LGBT National Coming Out Day event at the university in 2013. All three former coaches cite budget restrictions, lower pay and unfair treatment in contrast to their male coach counterparts.
Miller, Banford and Wiles all had impressive resumes and were revered in the Minnesota community. Miller was the most successful women’s hockey coach in UMD history, has the fourth most wins among all active Division I women’s hockey coaches, and has won five national championships. Banford guided her softball teams to four NCAA II Central Region berths, one NSIC regular season title, and was NSIC Coach of the Year in 2013. Wiles was the head women’s basketball coach at UMD and has won 400 games in her coaching career, guided her team into the postseason each of the previous five seasons, and coached teams to the NCAA Division II playoffs twice.