During court proceedings, Fresno State administrators claimed Vivas was let go because she failed to schedule enough top-25 opponents, win enough games in the postseason, and increase attendance. But as the winningest coach in the program's history, Vivas countered--and the jury agreed--that Fresno State discriminated against and eventually fired her because she complained about the school's treatment of women's teams and because she was perceived to be a lesbian.

According to Dan Siegel, Vivas's attorney, several factors played into the jury's decision. First, they were not convinced by Fresno State's explanation for Vivas's firing. "She was a successful coach by any measure, but most importantly, she was successful by the standards applied to coaches at Fresno State," he says. "The claim that she was fired for poor performance just didn't hold water."

Secondly, Siegel convinced the jury that Vivas's firing wasn't an isolated incident--it was part of a broader culture of discrimination within Fresno State athletics. "We were able to show a long history of antagonism toward my client and other advocates for Title IX," he says. "And rather than stopping it, administrators at the top either ignored it or participated in it."

The take-home message for athletic directors from this case, according to Siegel, is to be extremely careful in responding when someone brings a Title IX complaint. "The response must be absolutely civil and professional, and the person who complains must not be treated any differently as a result," he says. "It's also the athletic director's job to make sure others in the department are not retaliating against the person."

With the Vivas decision, courts have strengthened the message that Title IX whistle blowers are protected by the law, building on a 2005 Supreme Court case involving Roderick Jackson, Head Girls' Basketball Coach at Ensley High School in Birmingham, Ala. In that case, Supreme Court justices voted 5-4 that a private right of action does exist under Title IX to protect those who complain.

"I hope more coaches will feel comfortable coming forward with complaints as a result of this case," says Dina Lassow, Senior Counsel for the National Women's Law Center. "And I hope schools at all levels will be more responsive to complaints because they'll realize how substantial the consequences can be if they aren't."

In addition to finding that Fresno State retaliated against Vivas for complaining about Title IX violations, nine of the 12 jurors found the school mistreated her based on the perception that she was a lesbian. "Society simply doesn't tolerate that kind of discrimination now, and athletic departments need to catch up with society," says Karen Doering, Senior Counsel and Sports Project Attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "Things have changed, even in the past five or 10 years. The standard homophobia that goes on in locker rooms is no longer seen as acceptable by a jury.

"Sexual orientation discrimination is an issue athletic directors really need to take leadership on," she continues. "The message that it will not be tolerated needs to come from the top."

Doering suggests adding sexual orientation to the athletic department's non-discrimination policy if it isn't already there, and making training about sexual orientation discrimination a part of ongoing workshops provided to staff. "The instruction must be specifically tailored to athletics," she says. "A training session conducted by the women's studies program on campus may work great for an academic department, but for athletics, that's going to fall on deaf ears. The issue can be very different in an athletic setting, so only use resources targeted for athletics. "

For Fresno State, however, the focus will continue to be on legal matters. Two more former Fresno State employees, Diane Milutinovich, former associate athletic director, and Stacy Johnson-Klein, former women's basketball coach, are also suing the school for retaliation under Title IX, with their cases slated to begin this fall. And Fresno State has announced it will appeal the Vivas decision.

The Women's Sports Foundation provides training and materials about sexual orientation discrimination at: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/issues/itat/index.html.