I just got off the telephone with Charles B. Reed, the chancellor of the California State University system. The topic, of course, was the Lindy Vivas case and the $5.85 million verdict a Fresno County Superior Court jury handed Vivas Monday in her discrimination case against Fresno State. Fresno State is part of the CSU system.
Reed said he wanted to settle the case with the former volleyball coach, but Vivas and her legal team would not budge from their demand for $4.1 million. That made it impossible to settle, he said. Reed said it was the correct decision to go to court in the Vivas case. He said the law is on the university's side and the verdict will be appealed.
He also defended the university's lawyer in this case, Dawn Theodora. I and others have said that the university's defense was very weak, and that falls on Theodora's trial performance. "Dawn Theodora had never lost a case," Reed said. "She's no rookie." He said he received e-mails every night of the trial from Theodora keeping him apprised of the case as it unfolded.
Reed said: "We put our best foot forward, but the jury emotionally bought one side of the story." There was "one huge amount of emotional business going on in Fresno" during the Vivas trial.
Asked what impact the Vivas verdict will have on two upcoming discrimination cases against Fresno State, Reed said he didn't know. But then he said, "Is Fresno the right venue for the other cases?"
He didn't say whether the university will ask for a change of venue in the trials brought by former associate athletic director Diane Milutinovich and former women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein. It is highly unlikely that a judge would grant a change of venue in these cases, even if that request is made by the university.
I think Reed should settle the cases for one big reason: Scott Johnson. The former Fresno State athletic director was a key witness for the defense in the Vivas case and he will be on the stand again in the next two cases if they go to trial. Johnson has zero credibility on these issues. He has already cost the taxpayers a potential $5.85 million. How much more will the taxpayers be on the hook for in the next two trials?
Remember, Johnson was in charge of an athletic department that held a party that participants called, "Ugly Women Athletes Day."
And jurors are expected to believe Johnson when he tells them that there was no sexual discrimination when he was athletic director, and the moves against the three women who filed the cases against the university were proper?
The best news coming out of the Vivas decision in Fresno was not how much money that was awarded. The best news is that FINALLY female coaches, athletes, and administrators can feel some of the respect that has been long overdue. Vindication for many years of putting up with crude remarks, less than fair pay, lower budgets, and the list goes on. I am proud of Lindy for standing up for all of us who have endured the pain so that we can compete and work in the field that we love - athletics.