Date: 10-27-2023

Case Style:

A.B. and A.M.B, et al. v. Hawaii State Department of Education and OAHU Interscholastic Association

Case Number: 1:18-CV-0477

Judge:

Court:

Plaintiff's Attorney:

Defendant's Attorney:

Description: Honolulu, Hawaii civil rights lawyers represented the Plaintiffs who sued the Defendants on Title X class action violations.

A.B. and A.M.B., by their parents and next friends, C.B. and D.B., T.T., by
her parents and next friends, K.T. and S.T., and A.P., by her parents and next
friends, C.P. and M.P. (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), by and through their attorneys,
for this complaint, allege and aver as follows:

INTRODUCTION

1. This case is about ensuring that female athletes in Hawaii’s public
schools are on a level playing field with their male athlete counterparts. Plaintiffs
are female athletes at James Campbell High School (“Campbell”), which is run by
the Hawaii State Department of Education (“DOE”). They are passionate and
dedicated athletes. Yet simply because of their gender, Plaintiffs experience
grossly unequal treatment, benefits, and opportunities in relation to male athletes.

2. As just one example of this disparity, for decades, male athletes at
Campbell have had exclusive access to a stand-alone athletic locker room facility
in which they can store gear, change, shower, use the bathrooms, hold team
meetings, and build team spirit. Female athletes have nothing comparable. As a
result, female athletes must lug their athletic gear around all day. Female athletes
must resort to changing in teachers’ closets, in the bathroom of the nearest Burger
King, and even on the practice field, risking potential exposure to bystanders. To
go to the bathroom, female athletes must run back to the campus gym (which is
located roughly two football fields in length away), use decrepit porta-potties
(which are sometimes locked), or face having to crouch down in the bushes.
Perhaps most important, female athletes must carry the burden of knowing their
educational institution does not value them as much—that they are, in essence,
second-class—just because they are female.

3. The DOE has perpetuated these inequities for decades across its
schools. Since at least as early as 1978, the DOE was on notice that it had various
unmet deficiencies relating to its Title IX compliance. The DOE said it was
working to close those gaps. But what followed was four decades of delay in
providing female athletes with treatment, benefits, and opportunities equal to those
received by male athletes as required by Title IX.

4. Sadly, the DOE continues to illegally discriminate against female
athletes today. When making athletics decisions, boys’ sports come first, and girls’
sports second. As just one example of this skewed “boys first” mindset, the DOE’s
2016 “Master Plan for Athletic Facilities” recommended that one of its high
schools, Kailua High School, proceed with “upgrad[ing] the baseball field to a
playoff condition field” before building a “girls athletic locker room”—a facility
that was, and to this day remains, on the DOE’s official “Wish List” of items to
Case 1:18-cv-00477-LEK-RT Document 116 Filed 09/26/19 Page 4 of 68 PageID #:
1658 accomplish.2 As set forth below, the DOE’s decision-making at Campbell
continuously discriminates against girls.

5. The Oahu Interscholastic Association (“OIA”)—which administers
policies and regulations governing interscholastic athletics for all Oahu-based DOE
high schools, and which acts under the control of and in close coordination with
the DOE—also discriminates against girls in its decisions concerning
interscholastic athletics, including in scheduling of games, seasons, and
tournaments, as well as in publicity and promotion, at Campbell and other Oahu-
based DOE high schools.

6. Plaintiffs seek to change this unjust and unlawful state of affairs. On
behalf of the present and future female student athletes at Campbell, Plaintiffs
bring this class action against the DOE and the OIA (collectively, “Defendants”),
which have unlawfully discriminated on the basis of sex in violation of Plaintiffs’
rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Plaintiffs also seek
redress against the DOE for unlawfully retaliating against Plaintiffs when they
have brought such discrimination to the DOE’s attention.

7. On behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs
seek declaratory relief and permanent injunctive relief enjoining Defendants from
continuing to engage in unlawful sex-based discrimination. Defendants’
longstanding practice of putting female athletes of Hawaii second must end.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

8. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343 because
Plaintiffs bring this action under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,
20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. and its implementing regulations.

9. This Court may order declaratory and injunctive relief under 28
U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202 and Rule 57 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

10. Venue is properly in the United States District Court for the District of
Hawaii pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because Defendants are located in this
district, and the events giving rise to Plaintiffs’ claims occurred in this District.

PARTIES
Plaintiffs

11. Plaintiff A.B., age 17, is a twelfth-grade student at Campbell who
competes on the girls’ varsity water polo and the girls’ varsity swimming teams.
Defendants have discriminated against A.B. on the basis of her sex by denying her
equal athletic opportunities, treatment, and benefits. Because A.B. is a minor, she
Case 1:18-cv-00477-LEK-RT Document 116 Filed 09/26/19 Page 6 of 68 PageID #:
1660 brings this action by her next friends, her parents C.B. and D.B. A.B., C.B., and
D.B. are residents of Hawaii.

12. Plaintiff A.M.B., age 14, is a ninth-grade student at Campbell who
competes on the girls’ varsity water polo team. Defendants have discriminated
against A.M.B. on the basis of her sex by denying her equal athletic opportunities,
treatment, and benefits. Because A.M.B. is a minor, she brings this action by her
next friends, her parents C.B. and D.B. A.M.B., C.B., and D.B. are residents of
Hawaii.

13. Plaintiff T.T., age 17, is a twelfth-grade student at Campbell who
competes on the girls’ varsity water polo and the girls’ varsity swimming teams.
Defendants have discriminated against T.T. on the basis of her sex by denying her
equal athletic opportunities, treatment, and benefits. Because T.T. is a minor, she
brings this action by her next friends, her parents K.T. and S.T. T.T., K.T., and
S.T. are residents of Hawaii.

14. Plaintiff A.P., age 16, is an eleventh-grade student at Campbell who
competes on the girls’ varsity soccer and girls’ varsity water polo teams.
Defendants have discriminated against A.P. on the basis of her sex by denying her
equal athletic opportunities, treatment, and benefits. Because A.P. is a minor, she
brings this action by her next friends, her parents C.P. and M.P. A.P., C.P., and
M.P. are residents of Hawaii.

Defendants

15. Defendant DOE is the state administrative agency that manages the
statewide system of public schools consisting of 15 complex areas and 292
schools. Among the schools that the DOE manages is Campbell, which is a four-
year public high school located in Ewa Beach, Oahu. Campbell, which is part of
the DOE’s Leeward Oahu District, is the largest public high school in Hawaii in
terms of number of students. The DOE receives federal financial assistance and is
subject to the anti-discrimination provisions of Title IX.

16. Defendant OIA is an unincorporated athletic association composed of
all of the DOE’s secondary schools on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The OIA is an
instrumentality of, and is controlled by, the DOE.

17. The DOE is pervasively entwined in the management and control of
the OIA. The OIA’s Executive Director is a DOE employee, and all five regular
members of the OIA’s Executive Council are principals of DOE high schools and
therefore also DOE employees.

18. The OIA also has controlling authority over many aspects of the
DOE’s interscholastic athletic programs, including competitive facilities;
scheduling of seasons, games, and tournaments; travel; publicity and promotion;
and budget. The OIA indirectly receives federal financial assistance. The OIA is
subject to the anti-discrimination provisions of Title IX.

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

I. DOE’s Long History of Non-Compliance with Title IX

19. Nearly half a century ago, Congress passed Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any
federally funded education program or activity. Pub. L. No. 92-318, 86 Stat. 235,
373 (June 23, 1972) (codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.). The promise behind
Title IX was to root out sex discrimination in all aspects of education programs,
and to protect individuals against such discriminatory practices.
20. In 2002, Title IX was renamed the “Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity
in Education Act” in honor of Hawaii’s own Congresswoman Patsy Mink, the first
woman of color elected to Congress, and—notably for the purposes of this
lawsuit—a co-author and champion of Title IX.

21. In many respects, Title IX has been successful in increasing female
participation in athletics. As evidence of this success, in 1971, before Title IX was
enacted, only about 294,000 of the nation’s high school athletes—or roughly 7.4%
of all high school athletes—were girls. Today, that number has risen over ten times
to over 3.4 million, meaning that about 42.8% of all high school athletes are girls.3

22. But at least within the State of Hawaii, Title IX’s promise remains
unfulfilled. Nearly half a century after Title IX took effect, the DOE today fails to
provide Campbell female student athletes (and female students at other Hawaii
public schools) with athletic opportunities, treatment, and benefits equal to those
provided to its male student athletes. And as the history of the DOE’s actions—and
particularly its inaction—shows, the DOE’s present failures are in fact the
continuation of four decades of noncompliance with Title IX.

A. Initial Failures to Comply with Title IX: 1978 to 2000

23. Since as early as 1978—which is the year by which secondary schools
needed to be in compliance with Title IX—the DOE has been discriminating
against female athletes in violation of Title IX.

24. That year, a compliance officer from the federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) visited Hawaii to investigate the DOE’s
compliance with Title IX and other federal civil rights laws. The EEOC found
widespread Title IX problems. Among other things, the DOE had not: trained its
civil rights coordinators in monitoring educational programs for compliance with
federal sex discrimination laws; promulgated and implemented student and
employee Title IX grievance procedures; disseminated information regarding Title
IX to DOE students and staff; or monitored school athletic expenditures by sport
and sex. Many of these deficiencies remain to this day.

25. At the time, the DOE represented that it would remedy these Title IX
issues. But subsequent events demonstrate that the DOE never did so.

26. Indeed, over fifteen years later, in 1994, State Representative Jackie
Young sent a letter to the DOE expressing dismay about the many gender
inequities evident throughout DOE schools and specifically across its facilities for
practices and games, equipment and uniforms, travel opportunities, scheduling,
competitive opportunities, and budgeting.

27. After another five years of girls continuing to be denied access to
equality in sports, and fed up with the lack of progress, both the Hawaii state
legislature and the Governor acted to address the DOE’s failures in monitoring and
enforcing gender equality in athletics.

28. The Hawaii state legislature was first to act, passing a bill in 1999 that
would have “[p]rohibit[ed] discrimination in athletics on the basis of sex in any
public school” and “require[d] the [DOE] superintendent . . . to develop a strategic
plan to ensure equity in sports participation.”4 This legislative action was stopped
by the Governor, who vetoed the bill because the DOE had expressly assured the
Governor that the agency was “in total compliance” with Title IX.

29. The DOE’s representations were false. In fact, in school year 1999-
2000, there were still vast Title IX non-compliance issues. For example, thirty-nine
schools had boys’ athletic locker rooms while only twenty-three had girls’ athletic
locker rooms—that is, at least sixteen DOE schools provided locker room facilities
in an inequitable manner, and in violation of Title IX.

30. Upon discovering that the DOE was not in compliance with Title IX,
then-governor Cayetano responded with executive action. He demanded that the
DOE commit to a timeline for coming into compliance, articulate precisely what its
short- and long-term compliance plans were, and start mandatory compliance
reviews at every public high school coupled with quarterly and annual reporting.

31. Shortly thereafter, in 2000, the legislature affirmed that a state law
was necessary to ensure that girls realize their right to equal athletic treatment and
opportunities in Hawaii’s public high schools and passed a law requiring gender
equity in athletics (the “Gender Equity in Athletics Law”).5

B. Continued Failure to Comply After Hawaii’s Executive and Legislative
Branches Mandated Gender Equity in Athletics: 2000 to 2003

32. The Gender Equity in Athletics Law’s mandate was clear: “No
person, on the basis of sex, shall be excluded from participating in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination in athletics offered by a public high
school, pursuant to Public Law 92-318, Title IX of the federal Education
Amendments of 1972.”

33. The Gender Equity in Athletics Law also created an advisory
commission on gender equity in sports (“Advisory Commission”) to support the
DOE in complying with Title IX’s requirements. The Advisory Commission’s
responsibilities included determining whether the DOE’s schools were coming into
compliance with Title IX, and making recommendations to the DOE and the state
legislature.

34. For three years, from 2000 to 2003, the Advisory Commission played
a key role in exposing routine delays in the DOE’s completion of baseline
compliance assessments and its piecemeal or misguided approaches to resolving
gender equity issues.

35. During this period, evaluations focused on athletic facilities,
scheduling, and coaching at five DOE high schools.6 The evaluations constituted
hundreds of pages, and produced damning results. Among the many findings of
noncompliance: (1) four of the five schools provided better locker rooms for boys
than for girls; (2) the highest quality athletic facilities were typically assigned to
boys’ teams and not girls’ teams; (3) at one school, boys’ teams had three different
dressing rooms available to them, whereas girls’ teams had access to a single
dressing room; and (4) across the board, boys’ teams had far more opportunities to
engage in pre-season competition than girls’ teams.

36. In 2003, the Advisory Commission issued its final report. The report
noted that minimal progress had been made regarding gender equity in DOE
schools, and highlighted several stark disparities that remained, including the need
to build and upgrade girls’ athletic locker rooms at many high schools statewide.

37. The Advisory Commission’s report also found that the DOE was not
in compliance with the U.S. Department of Education’s athletic participation
opportunities test. Specifically, the athletic participation rate of girls in DOE
schools was substantially disproportionate relative to student enrollment. While
girls constituted nearly 48% of students enrolled in DOE schools, they only made
up 40% of athletic participants—representing a nearly 8% participation gap. This
meant that hundreds or thousands of girls were not getting the chance to play
compared to their male counterparts.

C. Progress on Gender Equity Reverses Course: 2004 to Present

38. After the Advisory Commission’s work concluded, progress regarding
gender equity in athletics has halted and, in several respects, even regressed.

39. For example, according to DOE self-assessments conducted in or
around 2005, at least twelve high schools—including Campbell—identified
themselves as needing plans to reassign locker rooms from male athletes to female
athletes because of ongoing inequalities in the allocation of athletic locker room
facilities.7

40. Yet, according to the DOE’s 2016 “Master Plan for Athletic
Facilities,” of the twelve high schools identified as having inequitable locker room
facilities, at least four (Baldwin, Campbell, Kahuku, and Waialua) still failed to
provide stand-alone athletic locker rooms to girls in 2016.8 That is, one third of the
schools that the DOE had conclusively identified as needing remediation in 2005
still had not yet reassigned locker rooms from boys to girls or had not yet closed
the gender disparity in other respects eleven years later.

41. According to the same “Master Plan for Athletic Facilities,” as of
2016, ten additional schools had athletic locker rooms for boys but not for girls.

42. Thus, thirteen years after the Advisory Commission’s final report—
and nearly fifty years after Title IX was passed—the disparity in athletic locker
rooms between female athletes and male athletes remains essentially unchanged; at
least fourteen high schools provide athletic locker rooms for their male athletes,
but not for their female athletes.

43. In addition to inequitable facilities, Title IX compliance monitoring
and enforcement by the DOE has effectively halted. For the past few years, there is
no public record that DOE schools have conducted compliance reviews or
submitted reports about Title IX compliance. This is so in spite of the fact that the
DOE has expressed a commitment to conduct these reviews and submit these
reports, and otherwise comply with Title IX.

44. The DOE’s regression with respect to Title IX compliance is troubling
in light of history: Title IX non-compliance in DOE schools has been the focus of
prior litigation before this Court. In 2010, the ACLU of Hawaii filed a lawsuit in
the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii on behalf of three female athletes
at the DOE’s Baldwin High School in Wailuku, Maui, to rectify the DOE’s
discriminatory treatment of the Baldwin High School girls’ softball team.9

45. In granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, Judge
David Alan Ezra concluded that “the evidence is very clear that the girls’ facilities
are decidedly inferior to those of the boys’, and they have been for years.”10 Judge
Ezra emphasized that he believed “without reservation that the Department of
Education and the people who acted in concert . . . have not met Title IX or
constitutional standards, period. This isn’t even a close question.”11 Given the
extreme disparities he had observed, Judge Ezra expressed surprise at the DOE’s
non-compliance: “Why somebody didn’t file a Title IX suit on this years ago is
beyond me . . . .”12

46. Shortly after Judge Ezra’s ruling, the DOE entered into a settlement
agreement with the plaintiffs that required the DOE to, among other things,
improve and expand existing girls’ softball facilities, and build a new girls’ softball
practice field on par with the field already existing for boys.13

47. Despite the 2010 Baldwin High School lawsuit, the DOE has not
ensured gender equity in athletics statewide. Across the board, the DOE’s gender
equity policies and practices remain deficient. In failing to address the vast
disparities that remain, the DOE has shown that it acts only when individuals
threaten—or, in this case, file—legal action.

48. Female athletes at Campbell and across Hawaii have been waiting for
nearly fifty years to receive the same treatment, benefits, and opportunities as male
athletes as mandated by law. Instead of moving forward to close the gender gap,
the DOE appears to be going backwards.

49. It is precisely because of the DOE’s longstanding failure to comply
with Title IX that Plaintiffs file the present lawsuit.14

II. The Unequal Female Athletic Experience at Campbell High School

50. Campbell is a four-year public high school located in Ewa Beach,
Oahu, and run by the DOE.

14 The DOE’s indifference to complying with Title IX is not limited to
athletics. On December 20, 2017, the DOE and the United States Department of
Education entered into a resolution agreement to address deficiencies in the DOE’s
policies, procedures, and processes used for responding to complaints of
harassment of students on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or disability.
See Resolution Agreement, OCR Docket No. 10-11-5003 (Dec. 20, 2017),
available at
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/10115003-
b.pdf. The United States Department of Education did not investigate—and
consequently the resolution agreement did not address—the DOE’s failure to
provide equal treatment, benefits, and opportunities in athletics under Title IX. See
Letter from Linda Mangel, Regional Director, U.S. Department of Education,
Office for Civil Rights, to Dr. Christina Kishimoto, Superintendent, DOE (Jan. 19,
2018), available at
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/10115003-
a.pdf.


51. Of the DOE’s approximately 55 high schools statewide, Campbell
serves the most students, matriculating 3,123 students in the 2017-2018 school
year. Of those students, 1,506 were female and 1,617 were male.
52. The female athletic experience at Campbell today is a byproduct of
the DOE’s historically inequitable treatment of female athletes in Hawaii’s public
schools: female athletes receive worse treatment, fewer benefits, and fewer
opportunities than male athletes.

53. Many aspects of the female athletic experience at Campbell are
controlled or greatly influenced by the OIA, which through its policies and
practices also treats female athletes inequitably by providing them worse treatment,
fewer benefits, and fewer opportunities than male athletes.

54. Upon information and belief, the female athletic experience at other
DOE high schools is substantially similar to that at Campbell.

A. The DOE and the OIA’s Sex-Based Discrimination in Athletic
Treatment and Benefits

55. The DOE has failed to provide an effective system for Title IX
implementation, monitoring, and compliance across its schools statewide.

56. Partly due to this lack of oversight, the DOE fails to provide equitable
athletic treatment and benefits to Campbell female students in comparison to male
students.

57. As described below, the DOE’s sex-based discrimination is evident in
its: (i) athletic locker rooms, practice facilities, and competitive facilities; (ii)
equipment and supplies; (iii) scheduling of games and practice times; (iv)
availability and quality of coaching; (v) travel opportunities; (vi) medical and
training services and facilities; and (vii) publicity and promotion.15

58. As described below, the OIA’s sex-based discrimination is evident in
its: (i) competitive facilities; (ii) scheduling of games; (iv) travel opportunities; and
(iv) publicity and promotion.

i. Locker rooms, practice facilities, and competitive facilities


1. Absence of athletic locker room for female athletes

59. Campbell is one of the many DOE high schools that fails to provide
athletic locker room facilities to female athletes while simultaneously providing
such facilities to male athletes.

60. Specifically, male athletes at Campbell have exclusive access to a
stand-alone athletic locker room facility that is located near the athletic fields. This
standalone athletic locker room is a very large facility that is at least two times the
size of the gym-based locker room. The stand-alone athletic locker room has about
120 full-size lockers, showers, and at least four bathroom stalls. The stand-alone
athletic locker room also has air conditioning and an office.

61. By contrast, female athletes at Campbell have no standalone athletic
locker room facility, whether located near the athletic fields or elsewhere on
campus. That is, female athletes have no full-size lockers, no showers, no
bathrooms, no air conditioning, and no office near the athletic fields.

62. Instead, female athletes, including Plaintiffs, must carry their athletic
gear around with them all day and have resorted to changing in teachers’ closets, in
the bathroom of the nearest Burger King, and even on the practice field, potentially
in full view of bystanders. To use the bathroom, female athletes must run back to
the main campus, use decrepit porta-potties (which are sometimes locked), or face
crouching down in the bushes. Plaintiffs, who are part of the girls’ water polo
program, sometimes have no practical choice but to change on the bus.
amenities such as toilet stalls, larger and more numerous lockers, showers, and
offices. Some DOE high schools have athletic locker rooms attached as annexes to
gym locker rooms, rather than as stand-alone facilities. For the purpose of this
complaint, “athletic locker room” refers to a school’s stand-alone athletic locker
room facility and/or any such annex to the gym locker room.

63. The absence of an athletic locker room facility has many negative
effects on female athletes at Campbell.

64. Female athletes at Campbell, including Plaintiffs, experience constant
stress and inconvenience from the lack of athletic locker room facilities. For
example, female athletes experience stress and inconvenience when they are forced
to lug their equipment and gear throughout the school day. This interferes with
their ability to concentrate on schoolwork during the academic day.
65. Female athletes at Campbell also experience stress and inconvenience
when they struggle—after school ends and before sports practice begins—to find a
place in which to change into athletic attire.

66. Additionally, because they do not have access to athletic locker room
facilities, unlike their male counterparts, some female athletes at Campbell
hurriedly shuttle home after school to gather equipment and change into practice
attire.

67. Some female athletes at Campbell are penalized by their coaches
when they show up late to practice because they cannot find places in which to
change, or because the places that they do find are overcrowded, costing them
more time to make the transition after school ends.

68. Campbell female athletes’ privacy is routinely compromised as a
result of the lack of access to locker room facilities. About half of the girls’ softball
program and about half of the girls’ cross country program change in the bleachers
by the field, with students holding up jackets to cover one another in an attempt to
preserve their teammates’ privacy. Female athletes in the wrestling program also
change and conduct weigh-ins in the Campbell hallways. Female athletes in the
judo program change and conduct weigh-ins in the corner of the gym or in the
hallway, and male athletes sometimes walk in on the female athletes, including as
recently as two weeks ago.

2. Absence of practice facilities for female athletes

69. Campbell is one of the many DOE high schools at which girls’ sports
programs do not have adequate access to practice facilities.

70. The Campbell girls’ water polo program has been consistently treated
unequally when it comes to securing practice facilities. For example, during the
2017-18 school year, the DOE failed to secure a pool for the girls’ water polo
program until after the season had already started.

71. As a result of the DOE’s inattention to girls’ sports, the Campbell
girls’ water polo program was left with no choice but to hold dry-land training
sessions and open-ocean swim practices at Puuloa Beach Park.

72. Also, as a result of the DOE’s inattention to girls’ sports, the
Campbell girls’ water polo program played at least two regular season games
without having had a single minute of practice time in a pool.

73. In fact, the DOE’s failures with respect to the Campbell girls’ water
polo program are memorialized in the 2018 Campbell yearbook:

74. This failure occurred even though the students, coaches, and parents
associated with the girls’ water polo program made various efforts in an attempt to
get the DOE and the Campbell administration to secure a pool.

75. Worse, when members of the Campbell girls’ water polo program
continued to raise their concerns with the Campbell Principal Jon Henry Lee and
Athletic Director Samuel Delos Reyes, the Campbell administrators retaliated on at
least three separate occasions by threatening to “cancel” the water polo team, the
water polo season, or both.

76. By contrast, at the same time that the girls’ water polo program was
lobbying the DOE and the Campbell administration to secure a practice facility, the
Athletic Director was attempting to secure off-season athletic opportunities for the
boys’ baseball and boys’ football programs.

77. The girls’ water polo program was approximately two weeks into the
competitive season when the DOE finally secured a pool in which the girls’ water
polo program could practice.

78. Additionally, although the DOE legally secured the pool by signing
the necessary paperwork, the Campbell girls’ water polo coach still had to use his
own personal funds to pay to use a regulation-sized pool. The girls’ water polo
coach spent approximately $60 per day, two days a week, because the DOE would
not provide funding.

79. The Campbell girls’ water polo program’s experience during the
2017-18 school year is not unique. For at least the five prior years, the girls’ water
polo program had encountered similar problems gaining timely access to a pool in
which to practice. For example, the girls’ water polo program has recently had to
practice in a non-regulation pool divided and shared with neighboring rival,
Kapolei High School.

80. The Campbell cheerleading program17—which is all-female—also has
been consistently treated unequally when it comes to securing practice facilities.
The Campbell cheerleading program has no dedicated practice facility and
regularly has trouble finding places in which to practice.

81. Even when it finds a temporary space in which to practice, the
Campbell cheerleading program is frequently displaced by other athletic programs.
Because of this displacement, the Campbell cheerleading program sometimes has
to practice in the Campbell cafeteria, where students resort to changing behind
tables. During at least some portion of the 2017-18 school year, the cheerleading
program had nowhere to store its mats.

3. Unequal facilities

17 Plaintiffs do not have sufficient information to take a legal position on
whether cheerleading at Campbell counts as an interscholastic athletic activity for
the purpose of determining Title IX compliance. See U.S. Dep’t of Educ. Office for
Civil Rights, Dear Colleague Letter: Athletic Activities Counted for Title IX
Compliance (Sept. 17, 2008),
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-20080917.html.

82. In addition to the complete absence of facilities for certain girls’
sports programs, the DOE provides unequal facilities to girls’ sports programs in
relation to boys’ sports programs.

83. For example, Campbell is one of the many DOE high schools at
which the girls’ softball program’s facilities are unequal in relation to the boys’
baseball program’s facilities.18

84. The DOE provides the Campbell boys’ baseball program more
facilities and facilities of a higher quality than those provided to the girls’ softball
program. The boys’ baseball program has a dedicated “baseball house,” with a
couch and mini-fridge, that is used to store equipment, hold meetings, and gather
before practice. Additionally, the boys’ baseball program has a large storage
container in which to store gear and equipment. The boys’ baseball program has a
batting cage that is for its exclusive use. The boys’ baseball program has access to
bathrooms in the stand-alone athletic locker room facility, or unisex porta-potties
that are conveniently located next to the baseball field.

85. By contrast, the DOE provides the girls’ softball program —which
has been Softball Division I state champions four times during the last eight
years19—few facilities and facilities of lower quality in comparison to their male
counterparts. The girls’ softball program has no dedicated “softball house”—or any
facility even remotely equivalent. The girls’ softball program has a storage
container, but it is half the size of the boys’ container and has so many cracks in
the roof that everything is ruined if softball players leave equipment in the
container when it rains. The girls’ softball program has no batting cage. The girls’
softball program has no access to bathroom facilities near the softball field, so they
must instead resort to using the porta-potties (which are located next to the
baseball field and are sometimes locked), running to the gym (which is located
roughly two football fields in length away), or crouching down behind the storage
container.

86. The boys’ baseball field is also located closer to the school and on the
better section of the shared athletic field area. Specifically, the baseball field is at a
higher elevation than the softball field.

87. The girls’ softball field, on the other hand, is located further away
from the school and on the worst section of the shared athletic field area. Because
the softball field is at a lower elevation than the baseball field, when it rains, the
softball field frequently floods and requires the use of sponges and other drainage
methods to make the field usable by the softball program.

4. Unequal facility maintenance

88. In addition to the stark disparities that exist between the athletic
facilities provided to boys relative to girls, the Campbell administration provides
better maintenance regarding boys’ facilities as compared to girls’ facilities.
89. For example, the boys’ football program had its broken lights on the
football field fixed immediately, whereas the girls’ soccer program could not even
convince the Campbell administration to install lights for after-dark practice and
competition.

90. The soccer field is frequently irrigated during scheduled girls’ soccer
practices, forcing the girls’ soccer program to practice inside the gym, which is
dangerous because of the increased risk of slippage and knee injuries from the
smooth hard surface.

91. Upon information and belief, the DOE uses funding, accepts
contributions, or allows funding to be used (regardless of source) to provide
unequal athletic treatment and benefits to male athletes as compared to female
athletes with respect to athletic locker rooms, practice facilities, and competitive
facilities. Upon information and belief, this unequal provision of benefits has been
longstanding and has led to—and will continue to lead to—unequal practice and
competitive facilities over time.

92. Thus, the DOE and the Campbell administration have a systematic
policy and practice of using limited resources and capacity to provide better
athletic facilities and benefits to male athletes as compared to female athletes.
5. Unequal allocation of competitive facilities

93. The DOE and the OIA (which acts under the control of, and in close
coordination with, the DOE) determine which competitive facilities are used by
athletic programs in DOE interscholastic athletic competition.

94. The DOE and the OIA unlawfully discriminate against female athletes
by consistently allocating the prime competitive facilities to boys’ sports programs.

95. For example, upon information and belief, the DOE and the OIA grant
the boys’ football programs exclusive use of Aloha Stadium, which, as the largest
stadium in Hawaii, is the premier competitive facility in the state. The Campbell
boys’ football program used Aloha Stadium as recently as November 2, 2018,
when it competed in an OIA championship playoff game against Farrington High
School. The Campbell boys’ football program also competed there in an OIA
playoff game in October 2017. By contrast, upon information and belief, no girls’
sports program has ever had the opportunity to use Aloha Stadium for athletic
competition.

ii. Equipment and supplies

96. The provision of equipment and supplies is inequitable between
female and male athletes at Campbell.

97. Upon information and belief, the DOE uses funding, accepts
contributions, or allows funding to be used (regardless of source) to provide
unequal athletic treatment and benefits to male athletes as compared to female
athletes with respect to equipment and supplies. Upon information and belief, this
unequal provision of benefits has been longstanding and has led to—and will
continue to lead to—unequal equipment and supplies over time.

98. The DOE consistently does not provide proper equipment and gear to
the Campbell girls’ water polo program. For the most part, the girls’ water polo
program relies on parents to use personal funds to purchase equipment. For
example, a couple years ago, parents bought replacement swimsuits for the water
polo athletes because the DOE failed to provide them. The girls’ water polo
program also used to have old swim caps that did not meet game regulations.
These old swim caps further posed a serious safety and choking hazard because
they were loose, stretched out, and often fell behind the athletes’ heads while
hanging around their necks, which created more drag underwater and allowed
opponents to pull the athletes underwater.

99. The girls’ soccer program experiences similar problems obtaining
proper equipment and gear. For example, during the 2016-17 school year, a parent
of a girls’ soccer team player used personal funds to purchase new uniforms
because the DOE failed to provide them.

100. Meanwhile, the football program has no trouble obtaining proper
equipment and gear, which are refreshed on a regular basis. Upon information and
belief, the DOE provides the Campbell boys’ football program proper equipment,
gear, and supplies.

iii. Scheduling of games and practice time

101. The DOE and the OIA control and operate the scheduling of seasons,
games, and tournaments relating to interscholastic athletics in DOE schools.
102. The scheduling of games and practice times is inequitable between
female and male athletes at Campbell.

103. Friday nights are considered prime time for athletic competition at
Campbell because they draw the largest crowds and student and community
support. However, based upon the publicly available schedules of Campbell sports
programs’ games in the 2018-19 school year, three quarters of the Friday night
slots are designated for boys’ sports programs. By contrast, girls’ sports programs
rarely play on Friday nights.

104. In fact, girls’ sports programs tend to play on less ideal days. For
example, during the 2017-18 school year, the girls’ softball program played many
of its regular season games on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are less ideal days
than Fridays or weekend days, because games in the middle of the week do not
draw large crowds and student and community support, and also interfere with
student-athletes’ ability to attend school, complete homework, and study for tests.

105. By contrast, during the 2017-18 school year, the boys’ baseball
program typically played regular season games on Fridays or weekend days.
106. This inequitable scheme is substantially the same regarding practice
time. The DOE illegally discriminates against practice times for girls’ sports in
favor of those for boys’ sports.

107. For example, the boys’ basketball program is allowed to hold double
practices at the expense of the girls’ volleyball program. Specifically, the boys’
basketball program displaces the girls’ volleyball program whenever the boys’
basketball program decides it wants to have additional practice.

108. As another example, during the spring, even though the boys’ football
program is in its off-season, it regularly displaces the track and field program.

109. The girls’ programs also practice during less preferable times in
relation to when the boys’ programs practice.

110. For example, even though the track and field program is co-
educational, the girls’ track and field athletes almost always start their practice
first, at around 3 p.m., when the heat and humidity is most oppressive. Meanwhile,
the boys’ track and field athletes start their practice later, at around 4:30 p.m.,
when the weather is cooler and the sun is less intense.

111. The girls’ soccer program practices on the field after the football
program. The field is often full of divots created by football practice, making it
dangerous for the girls’ soccer program to practice and leading to increased
injuries.

iv. Availability and quality of coaching

112. The DOE provides female student athletes at Campbell fewer
opportunities to receive coaching in comparison to male student athletes.
113. Upon information and belief, the DOE does not provide female
athletes the same or similar number of coaches as it provides male athletes.
Specifically, the DOE provides more coaches on a per-athlete basis to boys’ sports
teams than to girls’ sports teams.

114. The DOE also discriminates against girls by failing timely to fill gaps
in coaching positions for girls’ sports as compared to coaching positions for boys’
sports. Upon information and belief, Campbell presently has no girls’ varsity
softball coach and no girls’ soccer coach. Upon information and belief, the
coaching vacancies for boys’ sports are filled more quickly than those for girls’
sports. Upon information and belief, the DOE and the Campbell administration
illegally discriminate by hiring coaches for boys’ sports over girls’ sports.

115. Further, upon information and belief, the DOE does not provide
female athletes coaches of the same experience and qualifications as those
provided to their male counterparts. Upon information and belief, the DOE hires
coaches for girls’ sports programs who are less experienced and qualified than
those hired for boys’ sports programs.

116. The DOE provides unequal compensation between coaches of girls’
sports programs and coaches of boys’ sports programs.

117. For example, for two of the past three years, the assistant coaches of
the girls’ water polo program did not receive any compensation.

118. Upon information and belief, the reason that the coaches for the girls’
water polo program did not receive compensation is that the DOE decided to use
the monies allocated for the girls’ water polo program both to provide greater
compensation to boys’ football program coaches, and to provide more assistant
coaches to the boys’ football program.

119. Upon information and belief, every head coach and every assistant
coach of a boys’ sports team receives compensation for coaching services provided
to Campbell’s male athletes.

120. Upon information and belief, and as a result of the disparities in
coaching described above, the tenure of coaches and assistant coaches for girls’
sports programs tends to be substantially shorter than the tenure of coaches and
assistant coaches for boys’ sports programs. For example, the girls’ water polo
program has had three different head coaches in the last four years, which has been
incredibly disruptive to the water polo athletes. Indeed, both A.B. and T.T. have
had a different water polo coach each year they have attended Campbell.

121. The disparities in the number of coaches, their qualifications, their
compensation, and their tenure significantly reduce female athletes’ opportunities
to grow as athletes, both individually and as a team.

122. Upon information and belief, the DOE uses funding, accepts
contributions, or allows funding to be used (regardless of source) to provide
unequal athletic treatment and benefits to male athletes as compared to female
athletes with respect to coaching. Upon information and belief, this unequal
provision of benefits has been longstanding and has led to—and will continue to
lead to—unequal coaching over time.

v. Travel opportunities

123. The DOE and the OIA control and operate the travel opportunities
relating to interscholastic athletics in DOE schools.

124. The DOE and the OIA’s provision of travel opportunities is
inequitable between female and male athletes at Campbell.

125. Upon information and belief, the DOE uses funding, accepts
contributions, or allows funding to be used (regardless of source) to provide
unequal athletic treatment and benefits to male athletes as compared to female
athletes with respect to travel opportunities. Upon information and belief, this
unequal provision of benefits has been longstanding and has led to—and will
continue to lead to—unequal travel opportunities over time.

126. The boys’ varsity football team frequently travels to neighbor islands
in the State of Hawaii as well as to locations outside of the state for both in-season
and off-season playing opportunities.

127. During the 2017-18 school year, the boys’ varsity football team
traveled to Las Vegas during the winter off-season to participate in a regional
tournament.

128. During the 2018-19 school year, the boys’ varsity football team
traveled to the Big Island to play in a non-conference game against a Big Island-
based team.

129. During the 2018-19 school year, the Campbell Athletic Director
contracted for the boys’ varsity football team to travel to Phoenix, Arizona, for a
week-long “road trip” that included games against a Phoenix-based football team.

130. As another example, during the 2017-18 school year, the boys’ varsity
baseball team flew to the Big Island and Maui for some of its games and
tournaments.

131. Girls’ varsity sports teams do not have—and have not had—similar
opportunities to travel off the island of Oahu or out of state for practice,
competition, or other forms of athletic enrichment.

vi. Medical and training services and facilities

132. Female student-athletes experience the inequitable provision of
medical and training services, and inequitable access to such facilities in
comparison to their male counterparts.

133. Upon information and belief, the DOE uses funding, accepts
contributions, or allows funding to be used (regardless of source) to provide
unequal athletic treatment and benefits to male athletes as compared to female
athletes with respect to medical and training services and facilities. Upon
information and belief, this unequal provision of benefits has been longstanding
and has led to—and will continue to lead to—unequal medical and training
services and facilities over time.

134. For example, during the 2017-18 school year cross country season, on
at least one occasion, female cross country athletes were seeking treatment from
the trainers in the gym. When members of the boys’ football program entered the
training room, the female cross country athletes were asked to move aside so that
the boys’ football players could be treated first.

135. Trainers are less likely to be present at girls’ games than boys’ games.

136. For example, for several years before the present school year, the
Campbell trainers did not attend a single girls’ water polo game.

137. The 2017-18 school year was the first year in the past four years that
the Campbell trainers attended a girls’ water polo game. Nonetheless, Campbell
trainers attended only about three of the twelve games that the girls’ water polo
team played during the 2017-18 school year. Notably, the Campbell trainers were
relied on by the water polo team to address injuries each time they were present at
games, showing that they play a necessary and valuable role in athletics.

138. Upon information and belief, at least one Campbell trainer attends
every boys’ football or boys’ baseball game.

139. Because of the DOE’s discrimination, Campbell female athletes have
been put at increased risk of injury. For example, three seasons ago, a water polo
athlete was experiencing hyperventilation, a panic attack, and muscle cramps. No
Campbell trainer was present for the game, and the athlete was lucky to be able to
rely on a non-Campbell trainer to address her medical needs.

vii. Publicity and promotion

140. The DOE and the OIA control and operate the publicity and
promotion relating to interscholastic athletics in DOE schools.

141. Upon information and belief, girls’ sports are less often publicized
and promoted by the DOE and the OIA, and when girls’ sports are publicized and
promoted, female athletes are often recognized merely as an afterthought.

142. Upon information and belief, the DOE uses funding, accepts
contributions, or allows funding to be used (regardless of source) to provide
unequal athletic treatment and benefits to male athletes as compared to female
athletes with respect to publicity and promotion. Upon information and belief, this
unequal provision of benefits has been longstanding and has led to—and will
continue to lead to—unequal publicity and promotion over time.

143. The DOE and the OIA illegally discriminate by consistently giving
preferential treatment to the Campbell boys’ football program and the boys’
baseball program with respect to publicity and promotion, including, as previously
alleged, as a result of the inequitable scheduling of games. Specifically, when
boys’ athletic programs receive better schedules (such as Friday and weekend
days), they are more likely to receive media coverage, and people are more likely
to be available to watch.

144. The girls’ sports programs do not receive similar publicity and
promotion, including as a result of the inequitable scheduling of games.

145. The “Photo Albums” page of the Campbell website is instructive of
this disparity between the promotion of girls’ sports and boys’ sports. The
Campbell website includes albums on various school events, including
homecoming, graduation, contests, and athletics.20 Yet, all of the athletics-related
photo albums on the Campbell website are of the boys’ football program. In fact,
of the approximately 600 total photos on the “Photo Albums” page of the
Campbell website, over 250 photos—or over 44% of all Campbell photos—depict
the boys’ football program.

146. By contrast, zero photo albums—and, upon information and belief,
zero photos—on the “Photo Albums” page of the Campbell website depict a girls’
sports program.

147. Additionally, the DOE decided to schedule cheer and band only for
football athletic events. Therefore, the Campbell cheerleaders and band do not
attend any girls’ athletic events or promote any of the girls’ sports programs.

148. The DOE and the Campbell administration inequitably publicize and
promote girls’ sports in other ways.

149. For example, the DOE and the Campbell administration have failed
on several occasions to recognize the girls’ water polo program. During one
athletic award assembly at which every sports program was to be recognized, the
Campbell administration completely forgot about the water polo program. Because
the Campbell administration forgot about the water polo program, a Campbell staff
member scribbled lettering on a poster while the assembly was already occurring
as a belated attempt to recognize the water polo program.

150. During a separate pep rally, the Campbell administration recognized
the achievements of various Campbell sports programs, but again failed to
recognize those of the girls’ water polo program—even though the team had
advanced to the state championship for the first time that season.

151. The Campbell Athletic Director has a history of making disparaging
remarks towards the girls’ water polo program. For example, at one game during
the 2014-15 school year, the Athletic Director joked that, if the water polo program
was going to lose, Campbell should not even have a water polo program. Despite
the Athletic Director’s remark, the Campbell girls’ water polo program won that
game.

B. The DOE’s Failure to Effectively Accommodate Female Students’
Interest and Abilities Regarding Participation Opportunities

152. During the 2017-18 school year, Campbell had 3,123 students
enrolled: 1,506 students were girls and 1,617 were boys. Thus, girls represent
about 48.2% of the student body at Campbell, while boys represent about 51.8% of
the student body.

153. However, based on information and belief and incomplete available
data,21 there are approximately 345 female athletes and 484 male athletes at
Campbell. This means that female athletes account for about 41.6% of the athletic
opportunities at Campbell, while male athletes account for about 58.4% of the
athletic opportunities.

154. Thus, there exists a 6.6 percentage-point participation gap between
female athletic participation and female student body enrollment.22
155. Based on this participation gap, at least 106 additional opportunities
for female athletes must be added to meet part one of the Title IX’s three-part test
(substantial proportionality).

156. Upon information and belief, the DOE does not have a history and
continuing practice of expanding athletic programs for girls at Campbell, and
therefore do not satisfy part two of the three-part test.

157. The DOE will not establish that they have met Campbell girls’
interests and abilities in playing sports in greater numbers, regarding part three of
the three-part test.

III. The DOE’s Responses to Title IX Complaints

A. Retaliation

158. Under Title IX, a plaintiff is not obligated to provide notice or to
exhaust administrative remedies. Nevertheless, Plaintiffs and other Campbell
female athletes, and their parents and coaches, have made numerous written and
oral requests seeking equal accommodation and attempting to engage in
discussions with the DOE towards that end. Despite these efforts, the DOE’s
discrimination against and unequal treatment of Plaintiffs has been persistent and
ongoing. And instead of addressing Plaintiffs’ concerns, the DOE has retaliated
against Plaintiffs.

159. On many occasions, Plaintiffs and their female athlete classmates,
parents, and coaches have complained to the DOE and voiced their concerns about
the unfair treatment that female athletes have received at Campbell.

160. The DOE and the Campbell administration have not addressed the
complaints or concerns raised by the female athletes of Campbell.
161. Instead of addressing the female athletes’ serious concerns, the DOE
and the Campbell administrators retaliated. For example, the DOE and the
Campbell administrators, on at least three separate occasions, threatened to
“cancel” the water polo team, the water polo season, or both.

162. The DOE and the Campbell administrators also retaliated by
increasing their scrutiny of, showing more hostility towards, and withholding
resources, funding, coaching, and other support from the girls’ water polo program.
For example, the DOE and the Campbell administrators withheld funding by
refusing to sign a $1,000 grant that was given to the water polo program, which
forced the program to seek assistance from a different non-profit organization. As
another example, shortly after one heated meeting among water polo athletes, their
parents, and the Campbell Principal and Athletic Director, the Campbell
administrators informed the water polo athletes that about half of the program’s
paperwork (e.g., doctor’s physical evaluation forms, parental consent forms) was
missing. Even though this paperwork had, in fact, been completed and submitted
by the water polo athletes, the Campbell administrators told the water polo athletes
that they needed to resubmit all of these forms.

B. Inaction

163. On February 9, 2018, the ACLU of Hawaii sent a letter to various
DOE officials—including Superintendent Christina Kishimoto, Assistant
Superintendent for School Facilities and Support Services Dann Carlson, and Civil
Rights Compliance Office Director Anne Marie Puglisi—regarding sex
discrimination against female athletes in Hawaii. Among other things, the letter
noted that fourteen DOE high schools “do not have athletic locker rooms for
female students, while having such facilities for male students.”
164. The letter requested that, by March 12, 2018, the DOE respond with
“a plan that concretely addresses the glaring inequality between girls’ and boys’
athletic facilities in DOE schools.” The letter also requested that that plan ensure
that DOE schools become “fully compliant with Title IX by the first day of the
2018-19 school year.”

165. On March 2, 2018, the DOE sponsored three 45-minute-long meetings
at Campbell in which representatives from each of the Campbell girls’ sports
programs met with Title IX compliance specialists from the DOE’s Civil Rights
Compliance Office to raise concerns about gender equity in athletics.23

166. The ACLU of Hawaii represented some of the students and parents at
the March 2, 2018 meetings.

167. Upon information and belief, the DOE has not made any meaningful
changes to the athletics program at Campbell or other DOE schools in response to
these March 2, 2018 meetings and/or other similar meetings held at other DOE
schools.

168. The ACLU of Hawaii repeatedly requested that the DOE share its past
and present Title IX compliance plans and policies, including its written plan to
address the inequities described in the February 9, 2018 demand letter.
169. Concerned by the DOE’s failure to provide meaningful information
about its Title IX compliance findings, plans, and processes, the ACLU of Hawaii
turned to public records requests under the Uniform Information Practices Act
(“UIPA”) to obtain information on the DOE’s past and present Title IX compliance
efforts. In response to these requests, the ACLU of Hawaii received few
documents and little clarity about the DOE’s Title IX compliance efforts.

170. More specifically, on July 12, 2018, the ACLU of Hawaii submitted a
UIPA request seeking information regarding (1) Campbell’s athletic facilities,
including their use by sport and gender; (2) Campbell’s athletic budgets, including
line items broken down by team and gender; (3) DOE policies and plans regarding
athletic budgeting and financial decision-making; (4) findings, conclusions, and
recommendations from the gender equity assessments and site visits that the DOE
purported to conduct in or around March 2018; (5) enrollment data by gender and
gender participation rates in athletic programs; and (6) other plans and policies to
remedy already-identified and future gender-based disparities.

171. In response to this July 12, 2018 request, the DOE provided very few
documents, some of which were publicly available, and almost all of which
provided insufficient detail. In fact, excluding coaching payroll data, the DOE
provided only four documents, totaling nine pages. One of these documents was a
publicly available campus map. Another was a 1.5-page document purporting to be
a “System of Self-Assessment, Reporting, and Monitoring” for Title IX
compliance in DOE athletic programs. Notably, the DOE withheld all records
relating to the March 2018 assessments and site visits and its plans to remedy
already-identified gender-based disparities “due to government frustration.” The
DOE also redacted all names from the payroll data it provided, even though H.R.S.
§ 92F-12(a)(14) requires the disclosure of, among other things, the name and
compensation of state employees. Despite the paucity of records provided by the
DOE, it nevertheless affirmed that “[e]very record found to be responsive [wa]s
provided in its entirety.”

172. On August 27, 2018, the ACLU of Hawaii submitted a second UIPA
request again seeking more information regarding (1) features and dimensions of
Campbell’s athletic facilities; (2) Campbell’s athletic rosters; (3) the names,
positions, and compensation of all athletic staff at Campbell; and (4) the DOE’s
policies and procedures regarding athletic coaching.

173. In response to this August 27, 2018 request, the DOE provided three
documents and one spreadsheet: a document with architectural plans for Campbell,
a document containing payroll data showing the names of the athletic staff, a
spreadsheet outlining DOE’s athletic position pay rates, and an “Athletic
Handbook” dated June 2009. The DOE also provided partially redacted rosters.

174. In sum, despite multiple attempts through several different avenues,
the DOE continues to place the issues of Title IX compliance and gender equity
within a black box that is shielded from public scrutiny.

175. The discrimination against the female athletes of Campbell persists
today in the midst of the fifth month of the 2018-19 school year.

176. The DOE, through its actions and omissions—and the actions and
omissions of its officials, employees, and agents, including the OIA—has engaged
and continues to engage in gender-based discrimination against girls who desire to
play scholastic competitive-level sports for Campbell.

177. Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit to end Defendants’ ongoing and
systematic violations of the basic civil rights of girls who participate, or desire to
participate, in the Campbell athletics program.

178. As discussed above, these violations are symptomatic of pervasive,
systemic and longstanding practices and policies of Defendants that deny girls an
equal opportunity to participate in athletic programs and enjoy the breadth of
educational, health, and professional benefits that flow from such participation.

IV. The Effects of the Unequal Treatment and Opportunities for Female
Athletes

179. Plaintiffs are under no obligation to show particular negative effects to
prove Title IX violations.

180. Nonetheless, Plaintiffs take this opportunity to assert the harms they
have suffered. Defendants’ unequal treatment has many negative consequences on
Plaintiffs’ academic performance, athletic performance, family obligations, and
ability to obtain athletic scholarships for college.

181. Additionally, because of Defendants’ unlawful treatment, Plaintiffs
believe they and fellow female athletes are valued less—that they are second-class.
Indeed, as one court has found, the practice of providing such unequal treatment
“sends the clear message that female athletes are subordinate to their male
counterparts, and that girls’ sports take a backseat to boys’ sports.” Communities
for Equity v. Michigan High Sch. Athletic Ass’n, 178 F. Supp. 2d 805, 836 (W.D.
Mich. 2001), aff’d, 459 F.3d 676 (6th Cir. 2006). Similarly, in the 2010 lawsuit
concerning Maui’s Baldwin High School, Judge Ezra elaborated on how “the
psychological aspects” of gender inequities “are huge for girls”:

When these boys run out on that stadium field, they have a sense of
pride. It fills them with a sense that they have accomplished
something. When a girl is relegated to running out on a dirt field in
some park, are they filled with the same kind of pride? I don’t think
so. And I don’t think it takes a genius to figure out those differences.24

182. Because of the inequities perpetuated by Defendants, Campbell also
loses out on opportunities to host games, tournaments, and other competitions for
girls’ sports, which further negatively impacts female athletes’ educational and
athletic experiences.

183. Additionally, the poor treatment results in Campbell female athletes
failing to achieve their full athletic potential, and thereby losing out on
opportunities to win scholarships for post-secondary education.

184. For example, because of the consistent manner in which the DOE fails
to provide or delays providing a pool in which to practice, A.B., A.M.B., T.T., and
A.P., and their teammates are deprived of opportunities to practice in regulation
water polo conditions, and to practice the specific skills required to excel as water
polo athletes. Similarly, because of the consistent manner in which the DOE
unlawfully discriminates in providing sufficient and high-quality coaching—
thereby leading to frequent changes in coaching staff—A.B., A.M.B., T.T., and
A.P., and their teammates constantly have to form new relationships and adapt to
each coach’s communication and coaching style. This further prevents A.B.,
A.M.B., T.T., and A.P., and their teammates from reaching their full potential as
water polo athletes.

185. As another example, T.T.’s negative experience with the Campbell
athletics program has put her collegiate scholarship opportunities at risk. As a
sophomore, T.T. was one of Hawaii’s top high school water polo athletes. As a
junior, T.T. aspired again to be one of the state’s top athletes. College scouts
reached out to her expressing interest in her athletic abilities. But T.T.’s aspirations
were severely hampered by the DOE’s failure to timely provide access to a pool
for the Campbell girls’ water polo program during the 2017-18 school year. By the
time the water polo season had started, the team had not yet set foot in a pool for
practice because the DOE had failed to secure a pool for the program. Thrown off
by the inability to practice in a pool, the Campbell girls’ water polo team lost two
of its first four games. As a result of the DOE’s inequitable treatment of the girls’
water polo team, T.T. could not perform as well as she would have liked. T.T.
missed out on improving her water polo play statistics, which are important to
college scouts.

CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS

186. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference as though fully
contained herein, the allegations set forth in the preceding paragraphs.

187. The named Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of themselves and on
behalf of a class of all those similarly situated pursuant to Rule 23(a) and (b)(2) of
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Definition

188. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of all present and future Campbell
female students and potential students who participate, seek to participate, and/or
are or were deterred from participating in athletics at Campbell (the “Class”).
Numerosity

189. The Class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impractical.
190. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that in
the 2017-18 school year, the latest time period during which information is
publicly available, there were 1,506 female students in grades 9-12 at Campbell
and approximately 345 female students in the athletics program.
191. It is unknown how many additional current female students or how
many additional future female students would seek to participate in interscholastic
athletics if additional opportunities were available. Moreover, members of the
Class who may suffer future injury are not capable of being precisely identified at
this time, as the Class includes future Campbell female athletes. Upon information
and belief, accordingly, class members number in the hundreds and possibly
thousands.

Common Questions of Law and Fact

192. Common questions of law and fact predominate, and include: (a)
whether current and future female student athletes at Campbell are receiving
unequal treatment and benefits in comparison to the male student athletes; (b)
whether current and future female students at Campbell are being deprived of
equal opportunities to participate in interscholastic sports; and (c) whether current
and future female students at Campbell are being retaliated against for complaining
about sex discrimination.
Typicality

193. The claims of the named Plaintiffs are typical of the claims of the
Class. The type of discrimination and retaliation that Plaintiffs have suffered as a
result of sex include: receipt of unequal treatment and benefits in Campbell’s
sports programs in addition to exclusion from opportunities to participate in sports
programs at Campbell. Such discrimination is typical of the sex discrimination
that members of the Class have suffered, are suffering, and, unless this Court
grants relief, will continue to suffer.

194. A.B. is a typical member of the proposed class. She is a current
female student athlete at Campbell for the 2018-19 school year who is subject to
discriminatory unequal participation opportunities due to Defendants’ failure to
accommodate female students’ athletic interests and abilities as well as provide
equal treatment and benefits to female student athletes. Defendants have subjected
A.B. to sex-based discrimination.

195. A.M.B. is a typical member of the proposed class. She is a current
female student athlete at Campbell from the 2018-19 school year who is subject to
discriminatory unequal participation opportunities due to Defendants’ failure to
accommodate female students’ athletic interests and abilities as well as provide
equal treatment and benefits to female student athletes. Defendants have subjected
A.M.B. to sex-based discrimination.

196. T.T. is a typical member of the proposed class. She is a current female
student athlete at Campbell for the 2018-19 school year who is subject to
discriminatory unequal participation opportunities due to Defendants’ failure to
accommodate female students’ athletic interests and abilities as well as provide
equal treatment and benefits to female student athletes. Defendants have subjected

T.T. to sex-based discrimination.

197. A.P. is a typical member of the proposed class. She is a current female
student athlete at Campbell for the 2019-20 school year who is subject to
discriminatory unequal participation opportunities due to Defendants’ failure to
accommodate female students’ athletic interests and abilities as well as provide
equal treatment and benefits to female student athletes. Defendants have subjected
A.P. to sex-based discrimination.

Adequacy of Representation

198. The named Plaintiffs will fairly and adequately represent and protect
the interests of the Class because they seek relief on behalf of the Class they
represent as a whole and have no interest antagonistic to other members of the
Class. Plaintiffs intend to prosecute this action rigorously in order to secure
remedies for the entire class.

199. The named Plaintiffs are represented by counsel from the ACLU of
Hawaii; Legal Aid at Work; and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Counsel are
experienced in state and federal civil rights litigation and class actions, including
specifically Title IX class action litigation.
Rule 23(b)(2)

200. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds generally
applicable to the Class, thereby making appropriate final declaratory and injunctive
relief with respect to the Class as a whole under Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure.

DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

201. An actual and immediate controversy exists between Plaintiffs and
Defendants, which parties have genuine and opposing interests and which interests
are direct and substantial. Plaintiffs contend that Defendants violated their rights
and the rights of the Class under federal anti-discrimination law. Plaintiffs are
informed and believe and, based thereon, allege that Defendants deny these
allegations. Declaratory relief is therefore necessary and appropriate.

202. Plaintiffs and the class members have no plain, adequate, or complete
remedy at law. Unless enjoined by the Court, Defendants will continue to infringe
on Plaintiffs’ and class members’ statutory rights and will continue to inflict
irreparable injury. This threat of injury to Plaintiffs and class members from
continuing violations requires permanent injunctive relief.

FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF

Violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681
et seq. and Its Implementing Regulations
(Unequal Treatment and Benefits in Athletic Programs)
(Against All Defendants)

203. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference as though fully
contained herein, the allegations set forth in the preceding paragraphs.
204. Title IX provides: “No person . . . shall, on the basis of sex, . . . be
denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education
program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . . . .” 20 U.S. C. §
1681(a).

205. Since the passage of Title IX, the DOE has received and continues to
receive federal financial assistance and the benefits therefrom. Therefore, all of the
DOE’s programs, including its athletic programs, and all officials, employees
and/or agents of the DOE, are bound by the requirements of Title IX and its
implementing regulations. 20 U.S.C. § 1687. This includes the OIA, which both is
a part of, and controls, the DOE’s athletic programs.

206. Title IX’s implementing regulations provide: “No person shall, on the
basis of sex, . . . be denied the benefits of, be treated differently from another
person or otherwise be discriminated against in any interscholastic, intercollegiate,
club or intramural athletics offered by a recipient, and the recipient shall provide
any such athletics separately on such basis.” 34 C.F.R. § 106.41(a).

207. Under Title IX, schools must provide “equal treatment and benefits”
to members of both sexes in their athletic programs. 44 Fed. Reg. 71,413 (1979),
the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights’ 1979 Policy Interpretation
(“1979 Policy Interpretation”). Equal treatment and benefits are assessed based on
an overall comparison of the male and female student athletic programs, including
an analysis of the following factors, among other considerations: “The provision of
equipment and supplies; Scheduling of games and practice time; Opportunity to
receive coaching . . .; Assignment and compensation of coaches . . .; Provision of
locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities; Provision of medical and training
facilities and services; . . . Publicity” and a school’s “failure to provide necessary
funds for teams for one sex.” 34 C.F.R. § 106.41(c)(2)–(10). See also Ollier v.
Sweetwater Union High Sch. Dist., 858 F. Supp. 2d 1093, 1115 (S.D. Cal. 2012),
enforced, No. 07CV714-L JMA, 2014 WL 1028431 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 17, 2014),
aff’d, 768 F.3d 843 (9th Cir. 2014) (finding “[d]efendants have violated Title IX in
failing to provide equal treatment and benefits,” with respect to plaintiffs’
treatment and benefits claim).

208. The Title IX implementing regulations required that sponsors of
interscholastic athletics comply with the regulations within three years of their
effective date, or by July 21, 1978, at the latest. The regulations further require that
sponsors of interscholastic athletics take such remedial actions as are necessary to
overcome the effects of sex discrimination in violation of Title IX. 34 C.F.R.
§106.3(a).

209. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that
Defendants have not taken remedial actions and that any remedial actions which
Defendants have taken in the past have been insufficient to satisfy Defendants’
obligations under Title IX.

210. Defendants have violated Title IX and its implementing regulations by
discriminating against female students, including Plaintiffs, by, among other
things, failing to provide female student athletes from Campbell with treatment and
benefits that are comparable to the treatment and benefits provided to male student
athletes.

211. Defendants’ inequitable treatment of Campbell female athletes
demonstrates Defendants’ failure to comply with Title IX.

212. As a proximate result of these unlawful acts, Plaintiffs and the Class
have suffered and continue to suffer irreparable injury.

213. Plaintiffs and the Class are entitled to relief, including declaratory
relief and injunctive relief, as well as reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF

Violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681
et seq. and Its Implementing Regulations
(Unequal Participation Opportunities in Athletic Programs)
(Against All Defendants)

214. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference as though fully
contained herein, the allegations set forth in the preceding paragraphs.
215. Title IX provides: “No person . . . shall, on the basis of sex, be
excluded from participating in . . . or be subjected to discrimination under any
education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S. C. §
1681(a).

216. Title IX’s implementing regulations provide: “No person shall, on the
basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, . . . or otherwise be discriminated
against in any interscholastic, intercollegiate, club or intramural athletics offered
by a recipient, and the recipient shall provide any such athletics separately on such
basis.” 34 C.F.R. § 106.41(a).

217. Under Title IX, schools must provide both sexes equivalent athletic
participation opportunities. See 1979 Policy Interpretation.

218. “In determining whether equal opportunities are available,” it must be
considered, “[w]hether the selection of sports and levels of competition effectively
accommodate the interests and abilities of members of both sexes” 34 C.F.R. §

106.41(c)(1); see also Ollier v. Sweetwater Union High Sch. Dist., 604 F. Supp. 2d
1264, 1275 (S.D. Cal. 2009), aff’d, 768 F.3d 843 (9th Cir. 2014) (finding
“defendants are not in compliance with Title IX based on unequal participation
opportunities in athletic program,” with respect to plaintiffs’ unequal participation
opportunities claim).

219. Compliance in the area of equivalent participation opportunities is
determined by a three-part test.

220. The first part of the test considers: “Whether intercollegiate level
participation opportunities for male and female students are provided in numbers
substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments[.]” Id. at 71,418 (Section
VII(C)(5)(a)(1)).

221. The second part of the test considers: “Where the members of one sex
have been and are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes, whether the
institution can show a history and continuing practice of program expansion which
is demonstrably responsive to the developing interest and abilities of the members
of that sex[.]” Id. at 71,418 (Section VII(C)(5)(a)(2)).

222. The third part of the test considers: “Where the members of one sex
are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes, and the institution cannot
show a continuing practice of program expansion such as that cited above, whether
it can be demonstrated that the interests and abilities of the members of that sex
have been fully and effectively accommodated by the present program.” Id. at
71,418 (Section VII(C)(5)(a)(3)).

223. Although the 1979 Policy Interpretation refers to “intercollegiate”
sports, it also applies to high schools. See Ollier v. Sweetwater Union High Sch.
Dist., 768 F.3d 843, 855 (9th Cir. 2014) (“[T]he three-part test applies to a high
school.”); see also McCormick ex rel. McCormick v. School Dist. of Mamaroneck,
370 F.3d 275, 300 (2d Cir. 2004) (applying three-part test to high school). Indeed,
Title IX is applicable to all recipients of federal education funds, including high
schools, and thus the 1979 Policy Interpretation is applicable to interscholastic
high school sports as well as intercollegiate sports. 34 C.F.R. § 106.11.
224. With respect to the first part of the three-part test, Plaintiffs are
informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that the ratio of female to male
athletes at Campbell is not substantially proportionate to the overall ratio of
enrolled female to male students at Campbell.

225. Further, with respect to the second part of the three-part test,
Defendants cannot show “a history and continuing practice of program expansion
which is demonstrably responsive to the developing interest and abilities” of
Campbell’s female students. Mansourian v. Regents of the Univ. of Calif., 602 F.3d
958, 965 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Office for Civil Rights, Guidance: The Three-Part
Test (1996)). Rather, female students have historically been and continue to be
underrepresented in the Campbell and DOE athletics programs. Defendants bear
the burden on part two, an affirmative defense, and must show a history and
continuing practice of adding athletic opportunities for females. See Ollier v.
Sweetwater Union High Sch. Dist., 768 F.3d 843, 857-58 (9th Cir. 2014).

226. Finally, with respect to part three of the three-part test, despite this
underrepresentation and despite the interests and abilities of female students at
Campbell to participate on additional teams, Defendants have not adequately met
the interests and abilities of female student-athletes.

227. As a proximate result of these unlawful acts, Plaintiffs and the Class
have suffered and continue to suffer irreparable injury.

228. Plaintiffs and the Class are entitled to relief, including declaratory
relief and injunctive relief, as well as reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

229. Such injunctive relief may include, but is not limited to, the provision
of the full range of teams and participation slots in existing sports, with teams for
all grade levels, including novice, junior varsity, and varsity-level opportunities for
female student athletes.

THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF

Violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681
et seq. and Its Implementing Regulations
(Retaliation)
(Against Defendant DOE Only)

230. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by reference as though fully
contained herein, the allegations set forth in the preceding paragraphs.

231. Title IX and its implementing regulations prohibit retaliation for
complaints of sex discrimination. See Jackson v. Birmingham Bd. of Educ., 544
U.S. 167, 171 (2005); Ollier v. Sweetwater Union High Sch. Dist., 768 F.3d 843,
869 (9th Cir. 2014).

232. On several occasions, Plaintiffs A.B. and T.T. and other Class
members complained to the DOE about its unequal treatment of the Campbell
girls’ water polo program. These complaints were submitted in both oral and
written form.

233. Plaintiffs A.B. and T.T. and other Class members also engaged in
both individual and entire-team meetings with the Campbell Principal and Athletic
Director to discuss this unequal treatment. During these meetings, Plaintiffs A.B.
and T.T. and other Class members—sometimes with their parents—expressed
concern about the inequitable way that the DOE treated the Campbell girls’ water
polo program, as evidenced most strikingly by the DOE’s continual failure to
timely secure a practice facility for the team.

234. After Plaintiffs A.B. and T.T. and other Class members complained
about the DOE’s sex discrimination, the DOE retaliated by threatening, on at least
three separate occasions, to “cancel” the water polo program, the water polo
season, or both. As noted above, on at least one occasion, the Campbell Athletic
Director joked that, if the water polo program was going to lose a game, Campbell
should not even have a water polo program.

235. Upon information and belief, after Plaintiffs A.B. and T.T. and other
Class members complained about the DOE’s sex discrimination, the DOE
retaliated by increasing its scrutiny of, and showing more hostility towards, the
Campbell girls’ water polo program. This includes the DOE’s instruction that
Campbell water polo athletes resubmit athletic paperwork that the athletes had
already submitted, as noted above.

236. Upon information and belief, after Plaintiffs A.B. and T.T. and other
Class members complained about the DOE’s sex discrimination, the DOE also
retaliated by deliberately withholding resources, funding, coaching, and other
support from the girls’ water polo program that it otherwise would have provided
had Plaintiffs and other Class members not lodged complaints. This includes the
withholding of funding by refusing to sign a $1,000 grant, as noted above.
237. Also, as a result of the DOE’s retaliatory acts, Plaintiffs A.B., A.M.B.,
T.T., and A.P. and other Class members are concerned that the DOE will retaliate
again if they continue to complain about the DOE’s sex discrimination. Plaintiffs
A.B., A.M.B., T.T., and A.P. and other Class members are dissuaded from raising
the issue of sex discrimination with the DOE.

238. The DOE’s retaliatory acts have also created a chilling effect among
Campbell’s female athletes regarding identifying and complaining about other
gender inequities in athletics to the DOE.

239. The DOE’s retaliatory acts were motivated by Plaintiffs A.B. and T.T.
and other Class members lodging their complaints of sex discrimination.

240. As a proximate result of these unlawful acts, Plaintiffs and the Class
have suffered and continue to suffer irreparable injury.

241. Plaintiffs and the Class are entitled to relief, including declaratory
relief and injunctive relief, as well as reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

Outcome: PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHER EFORE, Plaintiffs and the other class members pray that this Court:

A. Assume jurisdiction over this action;

B. Certify the Class as proposed above, appoint the named Plaintiffs to
serve as representatives of the Class, and appoint undersigned
counsel to represent the Class;

C. Enter an order declaring that Defendants have discriminated on the
basis of sex against female students in violation of Title IX;

D. Enter an order declaring that Defendant DOE has retaliated against
female students in violation of Title IX;

E. Issue a permanent injunction against Defendants (and their divisions,
officers, servants, employees, attorneys, agents and representatives,
successors-in-office and all persons acting or purporting to act in
concert or in cooperation with Defendants or pursuant to
Defendants’ authority):

i. enjoining Defendants from retaliating and discriminating on the
basis of sex against female students;

ii. requiring Defendants to remediate their violations of Title IX
by, among other required actions, providing female student
athletes with treatment and benefits comparable to those
provided to male student athletes and affording female students
the equal opportunity to participate in school-sponsored sports;

F. Retain jurisdiction over Defendants until such time as the Court is
satisfied that Defendants’ unlawful customs, policies, practices,
rules, regulations, acts and omissions complained of herein no
longer exist and will not recur;

G. Award reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs and other expenditures
incurred as a result of bringing this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1988 and other applicable laws; and

H. Order such other relief as this Court deems just and proper.

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