Amber Rodriguez alleges she wasn’t allowed to go to away matches with the wrestling team, was refused promotions and was ultimately let go because she complained to administrators about male wrestling coaches.
SUNNYSIDE, Yakima County — A former wrestling coach with the Sunnyside School District says she was discriminated against because of her gender and retaliated against for reporting that male coaches were sexually harassing female student wrestlers, according to a lawsuit filed in Yakima County Superior Court.
In the lawsuit, filed this week, Amber Rodriguez alleges she wasn’t allowed to go to away matches with the wrestling team, was refused promotions and was ultimately let go because she complained to administrators about male wrestling coaches.
Those coaches were weighing “young” female wrestlers dressed only in “their bras and panties” and were sleeping in the same gym as those wrestlers on away trips, the lawsuit says. After repeatedly telling administrators this was sexual harassment and discriminatory, Rodriguez alleges in the lawsuit that she was then not allowed to go on away trips with the team or apply for the head-coach position.
The Sunnyside School District has not replied to a request for comment.
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In April 2017, Rodriguez was not reinstated as a wrestling coach. She had worked for the district since 2014. In the lawsuit, Rodriguez claims she wasn’t reinstated in retaliation for her complaints against the male wrestling coaches.
Rodriguez is asking for back pay, unspecified special and punitive damages and attorney and court fees.