Forrester v. West Point School District

United States District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, Eastern

Cause No. 1:10-cv-00324-MPM-DAS

On March 14, 2012, a jury in the United States District Court in Oxford, Mississippi, found the West Point School District removed a female teacher from her duties as head softball coach in order to give the slot to a male assistant football coach. Betty Forrester, the female coach, was an All-American softball player at East Mississippi Community College and was head coach of the West Point High School fast-pitch softball team during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The District non-renewed Ms. Forrester’s coaching supplement after the 2010 season and gave the position to an assistant football coach who had never played or coached softball. Ms. Forrester lost approximately $5,000.00 per year in additional pay for coaching softball for the years 2010 and 2011. The jury awarded her $10,000.00. Attorneys for Plaintiff were Jim Waide and Ron L. Woodruff of Waide & Associates, P.A. in Tupelo, Mississippi. Attorneys for Defendant were J. Tucker Mitchell and William C. McDonough of Mitchell Day Law Firm, PLLC in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills presided over the three-day trial.