Female athletes at Hawaii’s biggest public school filed a lawsuit against the institution after experiencing ‘sex discrimination’.

The class-action lawsuit was filed against James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach – a Honolulu neighborhood. 

Athletes and their families accused officials at the school of forcing water polo players to practice the sport in the ocean – even in dangerous conditions with rough waves and strong winds – because the school didn’t have a pool.

Female athletes at the school allegedly weren’t given their own locker room facilities – like their male counterparts – and were instead told to get changed under the bleachers or on the bus. They were also told to run to a nearby Burger King when they needed to use the bathroom.

A settlement for the case was finally filed on Friday, after almost five years of legal back and forth, for preliminary approval . The state promised to hire an independent evaluator to make sure there were equal opportunities for the female athletes at Campbell High School.

Ashley Badis, 22, was the leader of the landmark Title IX case – which alleged ‘widespread and systemic sex discrimination against female athletes (pictured: Ashley Badis)

Abby Pothier was another plaintiff in the lawsuit. She opened up about the indignities of being a female soccer player at James Campbell High School (pictured, Abby Pothier)

The evaluator was hired to target sports offerings, facilities, transportation and scheduling to ensure fairness between genders.

Another result of the settlement was a seven-year compliance plan and a hot line that students can use to anonymously report incidents that violate the updated guidelines and protect the students who speak up. 

Jayma Meyer, counsel at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, said: ‘We are hopeful that this monumental settlement will be a building block in Hawaii and nationwide to a future where every girl is ensured the rights required by Title IX.’ 

Title IX is the federal law set in 1972 that prohibited sex-based discrimination in educational settings. 

Ashley Badis, 22, was the leader of the landmark Title IX case – which alleged ‘widespread and systemic sex discrimination against female athletes,’ according to the New York Times

Badis is now playing water polo at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, but she was a trailblazer in the 2018 filing. 

She and her high school teammates tried to hold the James Campbell administrators accountable for their ‘discrimination’ – but ended up being retaliated against when the school threatened to cancel their water polo season all together. 

The high school girls then escalated their activism by seeking legal representation to help them ensure equality for female athletes and to hold the school accountable for their retaliation against the teenagers. 

Another plaintiff in the lawsuit was Abby Pothier – a female soccer player for the school. Pothier opened up about having to haul her sports bag around with her all day along with her lunch box and backpack because of the lack of facilities offered to female athletes.

Pothier also said that the girls soccer team couldn’t practice on the playing field until the boys were done. ‘It would be like 9:30 already. The lights would turn off or the sprinklers would turn on — maybe both,’ she said in a videoconference in 2022.

Court documents revealed that in the lawsuit, ‘plaintiffs alleged that despite being on notice of disparities between that athletic facilities for female and male student-athletes for decades, the DOE continued to prioritize upgrading facilities for male athletes over providing any facilities at all for female athletes. 

Ultimately – the defendants (Hawaii Department of Education and the Oahu Interscholastic Association) maintained their denial of liability while saying ‘the proposed Settlement is fair and reasonable, considering the substantial expenses of protracted litigation’

Badis and her high school teammates tried to hold the James Campbell administrators accountable for their ‘discrimination’ – but ended up being retaliated against when the school threatened to cancel their water polo season all together

Pothier opened up about having to haul her sports bag around with her all day along with her lunch box and backpack because of the lack of facilities offered to female athletes

‘The OIA, administered policies and regulations for interscholastic athletics in Oahu-based DOE schools, allegedly also discriminated against female athletes by prioritizing male athletes in scheduling games, seasons, and tournaments as well as publicizing and promoting male athletic competitions.’

After the lawsuit was filed – the Hawaii Department of Education and the Oahu Interscholastic Association responded claiming they had ‘done the best they could,’ the New York Times said. 

The defendants claimed that they had made changes based on the complaints from years earlier – including a new baseball and softball field with artificial turf which featured a building with lockers that softball players could use.

The school also allocated $6 million out of a broader $60 million Title IX improvement budget to go towards better locker room facilities for female athletes.

Ultimately – the defendants maintained their denial of liability while saying ‘the proposed Settlement is fair and reasonable, considering the substantial expenses of protracted litigation’.