FILE – In this Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 file photo, Drake head coach Jennie Baranczyk directs her team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Northern Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa. A discrimination lawsuit filed by a former assistant against Drake women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk has been dismissed on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018. Courtney Graham filed the suit in December 2016, claiming that Baranczyk forced her to resign in 2015 after learning she was gay. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A discrimination lawsuit filed by a former assistant against Drake women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk has been dismissed.
Courtney Graham filed the suit in December 2016, claiming that Baranczyk forced her to resign in 2015 after learning she was gay. Graham alleged Baranczyk slowly decreased her duties as assistant head coach six months after she brought her girlfriend and now wife to a home game in November 2014.
The case was dismissed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Graham filed a charge of discrimination with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. But Baranczyk and Drake successfully argued Graham failed to do so in a timely manner, according to the court decision.
Drake says in a statement it is pleased the case was dismissed on a summary judgment. The school says the claims were untrue and it is “committed to a culture of respect and diversity.”
Graham, who played at Mississippi State, joined the Drake coaching staff in 2012.
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