Lake Oswego Schools: Suit Charges Sex Discrimination as Baseball, Softball Teams Treated Differently

Differences between how the Lake Oswego High School baseball team and it's softball team will be corrected as soon as the softball team "wins a state championship."

That's what the school district allegedly told representatives of ten members of the team who are now suing the district, charging sex discrimination.

The district says that they are aware of some of the problems and are working to fix them.

"The district has a long history of supporting athletic opportunities for its female athletes and has been working on plans to improve practice and playing conditions for the Lake Oswego High School softball team," spokeswoman Nancy Duin said in a statement.

The Lake Oswego School District discriminated against female student athletes "by failing to provide treatment and benefits which comparable to the treatment and benefits provided to male student athletes."

The suit charges the differences in treatment between the baseball team and softball team include:

The baseball team has an on-campus, enclosed hitting facility with state of the art pitching machines. Not only does the softball team not have a hitting facility, they are not allowed to use the baseball's team's facility;

The baseball team plays and practices at an on-campus, artificial turf playing field, allowing them to practice year-round. The softball team, meanwhile, has to play and practice off-campus at the dirt field belonging to the junior high school;

The softball team has been denied access to the on-campus field even for practice;

The baseball field has a press box, stadium seating, dugouts with water fountains, sound system, and clean, sanitary, usable bathrooms for players and fans while the softball field has no press box, no water fountains in the dugouts, metal bleachers, no sound system and bathrooms that are often broken, dirty, and with our working locks;

The baseball field also has a concession stand allowing the team to raise money during games. The softball field does not have a concession stand;

The baseball team has a locker room exclusively for their use while the softball team shares a "team room" with other female athletes;

The suit charges that the softball team raised money for a hitting facility but was told it would not be built until they had won a state championship. The money they raised was then given to another team, according to the suit.

District Spokeswoman Nancy Duin says that some of the work to fix the inequities have already taken place.

"Some improvements have already been made, such as providing suitable inclement weather practice opportunities for girls softball and an upgrade to the indoor softball batting cage," she told Patch.

"Additional planning, coordination and equipment are required to further improve conditions and the district expects those will be in place within the next several weeks."