Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Federal judge says JSU must pay $382,000 judgment to former women's basketball coach

JSU paid $206,000 in legal fees through 2015, fighting this case.

JACKSON, Mississippi -- A federal judge ordered Jackson State University to pay the $382,000 judgment originally awarded to the school's former women’s basketball coach in 2014.

"Jackson State University doesn't offer anything new to change the original opinion," U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate said in a bench opinion.

The former coach, Denise Taylor Travis, wiped away tears on Monday after Wingate upheld the original award. She said it has been a six-year ordeal for her.

“He vindicated me. It’s like you have been accused of killing someone and DNA comes back and clears you after serving six years in prison," Travis said. "To have closure is very gratifying to me and my family.”

Travis, who used the last name Taylor when she was at JSU, coached at the school for 10 seasons, from 2001-11, and led the program to the 2008 SWAC Tournament title. Her contract was renewed in 2010 for four years with her salary set at $91,000 a year. Travis was fired after then-JSU President Carolyn Meyers took office in 2011. Meyers resigned last year.

Travis had filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Jackson on Jan. 24, 2012, against the university, alleging wrongful termination, sexual discrimination, invasion of privacy and breach of contract.

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