A former track & field athlete’s $10 million lawsuit against Temple will not move forward because her suit was filed too late, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ebony Moore’s lawsuit against the university, former track & field coach Eric Mobley and former athletic administrator Kristen Foley could be filed up to two years after her scholarship was revoked in May 2011. Moore filed the suit in July 2013.
Title IX, a set of federal regulations that applies to cases of harassment and gender-based discrimination, has a statute of limitations of two years. Claims made after the statute of limitations cannot be heard in court.
Moore’s suit accused Mobley of verbal abuse, intimidation and dereliction of his coaching duties. A Temple News investigation published in August 2014 found that athletes had brought their concerns at least three times to Foley, a senior associate athletic director who oversaw the track & field program.
Moore argued that her athletic scholarship was revoked in retaliation for complaints about discrimination and harassment.
Judges also ruled that Moore’s claims were not specific enough to support that her scholarship was revoked because of her complaints.
“Moore has presented no specific allegations suggesting that any member of the Appeals Panel had a retaliatory motive…,” the ruling stated.
Moore graduated from Temple in December 2012 after receiving a different scholarship from the athletic appeals panel so she could continue her studies after the athletic scholarship was revoked.
Evan Easterling can be reached at evan.easterling@temple.edu or on Twitter @Evan_Easterling.
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